Lydia Deetz and Final Fantasy 7
by Captain leon
Summary: Lydia Deetz and HER cat boy go to Midgar to help her cousin Wedge win Tifa's heart. Can love overcome the barriers of appearance and obsession? Fanfic crossover of beetlejuice and Final Fantasy 7
1. Arrival in Midgar

_Disclaimer: This is a fanfic that does not intend to infringe the rights of those who own the franchises of Final Fantasy 7 and Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice, starring Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). Fanfic translated from Spanish to English, forgive grammar and punctuation errors, thank you._

 **LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 1: Arrival in Midgar**

The stormy night unleashed its fury on the small town of Winter River. One construction in particular seemed to be the target of the strong wind, a huge Victorian-style house on a very high, symmetrical hill from which the view of all the surroundings was overlooked. The house was empty except for a room barely lit by a huge red candle, in which a young girl in a Gothic dress interpreted the tarot cards.

The young woman had an appearance that matched the sinister storm around her: skin as white as the lightning rays that fell around the place; black hair, as dark as the relentless night; and eyes so black and deep that they would make anyone lose themselves in them before the dark woods of the county.

In front of the young woman, sitting at the edge of the bed, was a majestic black cat looking at the card reader with unusual interest, almost as if he were hypnotized.

"Death," said the young woman with a voice that would be the envy of all the dark sirens of the oceans.

"No matter how you shuffle the cards, it's the same result," she said and the black cat jumped out of bed to become a cat boy, not an anthropomorphic creature covered in hair, but rather the shape of an ordinary young boy, except that he had cat ears and tail.

"What are we going to do, Lydia?" asked the cat boy.

"There's no alternative, Percy, we'll go to Midgar."

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.

Lydia and Percy headed to Midgar the next day. It was a long journey but Percy, transformed into a huge panther, covered the distance at high speed, Lydia was riding on him.

Midgar was the capital of all the territories controlled by the multinational Shinra. The city was the urbanistic nightmare of any self-respecting architect. Dirty and smelly, it seemed to have come out of an oppressive and sad-looking cyberpunk novel.

Lydia and Percy were walking around the city (Percy hid his ears and cat's tail thanks to his innate magic) and arrived at their destination, a bar-restaurant called "The Seventh Heaven".

"Look Lydia, there's the waitress, let's ask her," said Percy and the two boys went to the young lady.

"Wow..." Lydia thought when she saw the woman wearing something light and with a style that accentuated her very generous proportions.

"Wow," thought the waitress at the sight of Lydia in her Gothic costumes and pretty figure.

"Welcome to my bar, how can I help you?" Tifa greeted them and was surprised to see that the two travellers were very young and that they were carrying backpacks.

"We're looking for a girl named Tifa, Tifa Lockheart," said Percy.

"I'm Tifa, but my name is Lockhart, not Lockheart."

Lydia apologized, but Percy approached Tifa and began to look at her from head to toe.

"No, it has to be Lockhearth, Lockhearth sounds better," he said with a big smile on his face as his tail and cat ears came out.

"What's that!" Tifa shouted, but Lydia covered Percy's ears and tail with her hands and body.

"It's nothing, they're just fashionable appliques!" Lydia exclaimed nervously trying to save the situation, but apparently Tifa wasn't convinced because she was watching Percy closely.

Tifa was getting closer and closer to the boys, but when she saw the fearful expression of the two friends she gave up on her curiosity.

Lydia breathed calmly, but then a loud noise was heard in the doorway of the bar.

"Get the hell in!" ordered the greatest man Lydia ever saw in her life. He had a dark complexion and a very muscular and voluminous complexion. The man had a hairstyle and a beard that accentuated a fierce face.

"Barret, it's about time you got here!" Tifa criticized him.

"Is everyone all right?" she asked worried afterwards.

"Everyone's safe, including that asshole Soldier, Cloud... Who are you?" asked the ebony giant.

Lydia who knew not to judge someone by their appearance began to present herself, but then Percy, who had been stunned and with her eyes open like plates, began to recover, how bad he pulled out his ears and cat's tail again.

"A bear! A bear!" shouted the cat boy and began to ruffle all his hair and the hairs on his tail.

Percy jumped up to Barrett as he transformed himself into a domestic cat.

"Percy, no!" Lydia shouted as Percy the cat did not leave the giant's face and he collapsed on a table, breaking it in the act.

"Hey, look, a cat is stuck to Barrett's face!"

"Whose is that cat?"

"Bear, bear, bear!"

"Did that cat say bear?"

"A talking cat!"

"Percy, stop it!"

"What the hell is that thing!"

"Lydia, what are you doing here?"

"Wedge! I've found you at last!" Lydia exclaimed.

Barrett was furious and wanted to attack Percy who ceased his attack but then someone else showed up at the scene.

"A kitty cat!" A little girl shrieked and held Percy in her arms.

Lydia tried to calm the situation and took Percy by the arms of the girl and ordered him to transform into his cat boy form. Then he introduced Percy and herself and apologized for the misunderstanding.

Wedge, turned out to be Lydia's cousin and introduced her and Percy to the members of Avalanche.

"Why does Percy have a cat's tail and ears?" asked Marlene, who was Barrett's adopted daughter.

Lydia told of her and Percy's adventures against a ghost named Beetlejuice and many questions were answered.

"And what brought you to Midgar, Lydia?" Wedge asked him.

"I was worried about your letter in which you said you were going to join Avalanche, so I decided to read the tarot cards, and I was very worried about what I saw," said Lydia and everyone present gave her incredulous looks.

"Hey, you can't doubt Lydia's predictions," Percy criticized with a frown, "after all, if a cat boy shows up before you, surely Lydia's tarot cards are accurate too."

Barrett asked Tifa to take Marlene to bed and then the woman came back and continued the meeting.

"And what powers do you have, Lydia?" wanted to know Tifa.

"She can see people's aura and other things like trees, to see if they are good or bad; she can communicate with ghosts; she can read tarot cards perfectly; and she can summon a magical tsunami to kill the enemy," Percy happily listed, interrupting Lydia's reply.

Barrett, who did not believe in Lydia's powers, asked them to leave because he would be taking a meeting with the members of Avalanche, who apart from him were Tifa, Jesse, Wedge, Biggs and the novice Cloud.

Lydia begged Barrett to believe her, but the man wouldn't budge.

"Let her attend the meeting," Tifa asked.

"What could a girl like her and her cat do to stop Shinra?" Barrett asked angrily.

"Well, Percy can turn into a cat, which would come in handy for exploration and espionage purposes," Tifa replied and several people exchanged glances of enthusiasm, except Cloud who passed the effect of seeing a cat boy, was bored.

Barrett reluctantly agreed and allowed Lydia and Percy to go down to the basement to attend the meeting.

To Percy's disappointment, the meeting was all about watching the news and handing out some money to the attendees, but he was surprised that Cloud received much more money than the others.

"What happens is that we didn't have many members for the mission and Cloud didn't want to do it for less," Jesse explained to Lydia and Percy.

"Besides, Cloud belonged to Soldado, the elite forces of Shinra's army," Biggs whispered to them.

"I'm not interested in the planet, I'm just interested in getting paid what you promised me," said Cloud, and he and Barrett started arguing.

Lydia frowned at Cloud's words, as did Percy.

"God Cloud, you're the same stubborn man as ever." Tifa muttered to herself.

In the end Barrett gave the money to Cloud in anger and he decided to leave the place. Tifa followed Cloud in anguish and then Barrett went up too.

"Hey Wedge, you've put on a lot of weight since the last time I saw you," Percy let him go and Lydia looked at her friend grimly.

"I can't help it, since I learned about Tifa's exquisite food, I can't do anything else but repeat each dish, and Tifa always asks my opinion with her new culinary contributions."

"You always mention in your letters that you fell in love with a girl who stole your heart and who cooks delicious food," said Lydia, smiling gently at her cousin.

Wedge blushed and smiled back at her nervously.

"I think you look better that way, Wedge, you're so soft," said Percy with a genuine smile as he placed his hands on his friend's belly.

"Besides, that little round face is pretty," continued Percy.

"Really?" Wedge asked.

"Well, I think you're cute, but... since I left my cat form, I've watched a lot of TV and read magazines and... I think the beauty aesthetic that humans have is very different."

"Don't worry, Wedge, Percy and I will help you with Tifa," said Lydia and at that moment Tifa, Barrett and Cloud went down to the basement. Barrett looked between upset and worried.

"Hell, 3000 Gil... that money was for Marlene's education," Barrett whispered, while Cloud was satisfied while Tifa was already calm and looking at Cloud with interest.

"Oh no..." thought Lydia as she watched the way Tifa looked at Cloud.

Percy gave a big yawn and Tifa decided that both friends should stay at the bar to sleep because it was too late.

"Thank you very much Tifa" Lydia and Percy thanked her and Tifa smiled back at them, although with a sad look on her face. She still couldn't believe how Lydia's parents were willing to marry her to a stranger overnight just because he was a supposed oil billionaire who turned out to be Beetlejuice in disguise.

.

.

The next morning, Lydia and Percy got up early and helped Tifa with the bar. Then when the establishment opened, the first customers were the members of Avalanche and Wedge was about to repeat a dish when Lydia and Percy sat right in front of him.

"Don't even think about it Wedge," said Percy.

"Didn't you hear what Percy said yesterday?" Lydia reminded him.

"But I..."

"But nothing, from now on you're on a strict, constant diet and exercise regimen," Percy cut him off.

"I guess now I have to lose weight and get muscular," said Wedge sadly.

"No Wedge, being fit means being comfortable with you and healthy, not being an exact replica of my universe," Lydia told him.

"I wish I was like Cloud, he was even in Soldier, that's super cool," Wedge said, looking up at the blond man.

"Listen Wedge, you can admire Cloud all you want, but don't do it in front of Tifa," Lydia advised.

"And what do I do when Tifa offers me one of her new dishes?" Wedge asked in distress.

"That's what Percy will take care of, after all, given his metabolism, he can't gain weight, no matter how much he eats," Lydia told him, and Percy happily wagged his tail and ears.

"In short, for the next mission you will have to acquire some materia in order to fight. Aside from the money Barrett gave you for the mission, how much money do you have?" wanted to know Lydia.

"Hem, I don't think I have much, actually I'm broke."

"That's not good, you must have a lot of money to buy a good Materia... I know, let's go to your house!" Lydia happily suggested, and together with Percy they said goodbye to the others and left the bar in a hurry.

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.

Upon arriving at Wedge's house, both Lydia and Percy were impressed.

"Hotdog, I can't believe it!" Percy exclaimed at the sight of the impressive collection of Wedge.

"Impressive Wedge... But now I know where the capital leak is," whispered Lydia.

"Jo, what a good collection of comics and dolls," said Percy, approaching the figures.

"They're not comics and dolls, they're graphic novels and action figures," wedge red like a tomato defended himself.

"Where I come from, Wedge, they're comics and dolls," Percy cut him off.

"Well, you'll have to sell all this," concluded Lydia and Wedge looked scared.

"Wedge, unless you want to sell your furniture and appliances, I don't see any other solution, you said yourself you were broke," Lydia reminded him and Wedge looked around his room.

"I can't believe it! Are you really thinking about it, selling everything but your collection?" Lydia criticized him.

"Listen, Wedge," Lydia said calmly and looking at him tenderly in the eyes, "you don't even have to sell anything, all these things are part of you, of course I asked myself: How much are you willing to sacrifice for Tifa? Are you in love with her, or are you just fooled by her beauty?"

"Let's do it, let's sell everything, you said it yourself, Lydia, I need Materia and it's not cheap at all" Wedge decided, so Lydia and Percy patted him happily on the arm to cheer him up.

The collection of Wedge was heavy, fortunately Percy possessed superhuman strength and was able to carry everything. In the end, both Wedge and Lydia had a good amount of Materia.

"I don't need Materia, I have my own cat boy powers," said Percy full of confidence.

"Lucky Percy, we do need to have Materia," Lydia told him.

"Well, now we have to buy you a gun," Percy said.

"A weapon?" Wedge asked.

"Of course, it seems Tifa likes a man who fights with swords, so we'll buy you one," Percy told him.

"But I don't know how to fight swords."

"I think it would be best to buy you a distance attack weapon like a rifle," Lydia intervened, and Percy contradicted her with what the two began to discuss about the type of weapon Wedge should have.

In the end, they disagreed and bought Wedge a strange weapon that turned out to be a hybrid between a rifle and a sword.

"Done, now we need to change your look," said Lydia.

"My what!" Wedge shouted with a frightened face.

"Look Wedge, unless Tifa is a fan of Jonny Deep and the Pirates of the Caribbean, that red bandana on your head and the whole other outfit doesn't suit you very much," Percy let him out.

"But if I'm supposed to lose weight, isn't it a waste of money changing my clothes?" Wedge asked.

"Not at all, I'm very good at making clothes and I'll fix your suit when you lose weight," Lydia told him.

After buying the new clothes, the three of them went to the barbershop to change Wedge's hairstyle.

"I think he must have it sharp, like Cloud, you know, the more sharp the better the chances of being the leader," Percy suggested.

"We're not trying to make Wedge like Cloud, we're trying to make him have his own style. Please mister give him a somewhat rebellious look like something out of the 80's but without being too bulky either" Lydia asked the hairdresser.

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.

In the afternoon, Barrett was impatient with Wedge's delay, when the three friends arrived.

"It's about time you got here Wedge!" Barrett shouted angrily at him.

"What the hell?" Wedge, you look different," Barrett said.

"Why did you buy new clothes?" Biggs asked him.

"One can't buy clothes with her cousin?"2 Lydia intervened.

"That new cut looks good on you," said Jesse.

"Enough!" Barrett shouted, "Now you're all coming with me because we're late, except for you two."

Lydia and Percy frowned but decided to follow the giant's orders.

.

.

After sweeping and cleaning all the glasses and dishes in the bar, the two friends waited for Wedge and the others to return. They didn't have to wait long, but apparently something had gone wrong.

"Calm down, we don't know if he's dead or not!" Barrett shouted to Tifa.

"What happened!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Everything was a trap," Wedge explained, "the president of Shinra himself ambushed us and after a fight with a huge robot, the catwalk where we were fighting exploded and Cloud fell into the void."

Lydia covered her mouth with her hands from the shock and then looked back at Tifa who was crying by the bar.

"Now is the time Wedge to go and comfort her and take advantage of her vulnerability," Percy whispered to her.

"P-E-R-C-Y...!" Lydia hissed angrily at him.

"What? In love and war everything but everything is..." the cat boy tried to say, but stopped when he saw Lydia's angry expression.

"I can't believe it, Percy," said Lydia frowning.

"Please Lydia, I'm sure Cloud is fine, I know his kind, such idiots don't die easy, I think Wedge should comfort Tifa to score some points with her."

"That's not the point!" Lydia scolded him.

"Exactly, it's not one point, but several points, all of which are beneficial if Wedge knows how to play his cards well," insisted Percy.

Lydia was beginning to raise her voice but Percy had already grabbed Wedge's arm and pushed him towards Tifa.

Wedge looked at Percy nervously but the cat boy rushed him to go with a wave of his hand.

"Emmm, Tifa... No, don't worry, remember that Cloud is a tough guy, in fact he was in Soldado, so I'm sure he managed to survive without any damage."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course Tifa, you mustn't lose hope," Wedge said, trying to sound safe, and Tifa looked at the door of her bar in the hope of seeing Cloud.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**

 _Lydia's powers come from the movie "Beetlejuice"; Gems Jonathan's script "Beetlejuice goes Hawaiian" (Beetlejuice 2); the cartoons; and Midori Mezurashi's incomplete manga (the witch from peaceful pines)._

 _Percy's powers, come from the website: Clases de chicas gato (tecnicas felinas)_


	2. Shinra Building

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 2: Shinra Building**

After a couple of days, Tifa's anguish continued, as Cloud still did not appear. Wedge always offered to keep looking for Cloud at the suggestion of Percy, who still insisted on the "Now Is When" or N.I.W. tactic as he called it.

"Tifa..." Barret began to say nervously. "Still no word from Cloud, and we must continue our mission to destroy Shinra."

"Please, Barrett, leave her alone," said Jesse, who also apparently had feelings for Cloud for the way she lamented the former soldier's absence.

"It turns out that this guy named Don Corneo has valuable information that we can use against Shinra," Barrett began to say.

"Don Corneo?" Lydia asked.

"He's the mob boss of the "pink zone" of the city, he controls all the illegal activity regarding..." Biggs stopped when he saw Lydia.

"Oh... I understand." Lydia understood, and frowned.

"And how will we get that information?" wanted to know Wedge.

"Well... You see, it seems that Don Corneo wants to settle down, that's why he has invited all the young ladies of age to get married to be "interviewed" with him, in order to decide who his future wife will be." Barret explained to them.

"Interviewed?" Jesse hissed with a disgusted hiss.

"Yes, and well... I think you girls could infiltrate and get the information out of Corneo," Barrett said, looking at Tifa and Jesse nervously.

"Barret, you must be joking!" shouted Biggs.

"It's true, they can't do that," Wedge criticized.

"All right, Barrett, I'll do it," said Tifa suddenly and everyone looked at her in amazement.

"Tifa, you're not thinking clearly," whispered Jesse.

"Cloud, he sacrificed himself for us, this is the least I can do," said Tifa nodding her head. "Jesse, you don't have to come, just one of us is enough to get the information out of him."

Jesse and Lydia tried to talk some sense into their friend, but Tifa was stubborn. In the end, Tifa was ready to go to the corneo wearing a flashy red suit.

"You're not going to that place alone." Decided Wedge.

"But Don Corneo only accepts girls entering his house," said Tifa.

"I don't care, I'll walk you to Corneo's house, and if I see anything wrong I'll come to your aid," said Wedge with aplomb.

"Thanks Wedge, I didn't really want to go there alone," Tifa confessed, and they both took a carriage and headed for Don Corneo's house.

.

.

"I hope Tifa is all right," said Percy after a while.

"Don't worry, Wedge is with her," said Lydia.

"I hate this wait, we should have gone with them," complained Percy.

"I'm also anxious, too, what if we're going to train with the Materia we bought," suggested Lydia and they both went to Barrett and the others, and asked them to go with them.

"That's a good idea," said Jesse.

"This is a good time to practice, are you sure you want to give us your Materia?" Biggs asked her.

"Yes, I am very sure, the more we practice, the more powerful the Materia will become, and I prefer to use the Healing Materia, you stay with the others," Lydia said resolutely.

"Thanks Lydia, well, what are you waiting for? To practice!" Barrett ordered.

Lydia and the others began to train carefully and thus managed to increase their levels of fighting and healing, when they suddenly saw how several of Shinra's soldiers were heading for the pillar of Sector 7 of the city.

"I wonder what they're up to?" asked Biggs.

"That doesn't matter, we must stop them," Barrett ordered and they all went after the Shinra.

The first soldiers they faced were no challenge, however, all were frightened to learn of Shinra's plans for sector 7.

"They can't do that! They'd kill thousands of people!" Lydia shouted in amazement at the macabre plan.

"I think they're capable of it and they're planning to blame us for it," Percy hissed, his hair bristling with fury, as did his tail.

"Well, you heard the man, let's go!" Barrett yelled at them, but he stopped Lydia and Percy with a wave of his hand.

"You're too young, you'd better wait here," Barrett told them.

"But we want to help!" The two boys insisted, but Barrett gave them a look that indicated very clearly that he would not tolerate any disobedience.

"Okay, but at least take my Healing Materia," Lydia requested and everyone received the gifts.

Barrett, Biggs and Jesse climbed up the pillar of Sector 7 and clashed with Shinra's soldiers, who were reportedly very numerous.

Lydia and Percy watched the fights with great concern when they heard someone shouting their names.

"Lydia, look, it's Tifa and Wedge. Cloud's going with them!" Percy shouted happily.

Wedge and the others asked Lydia to update them and then decided to go up and help their friends.

"Please Lydia, you and Percy go to the "Seventh Heaven" and take Marlene to Aerith's house." Tifa asked them and both of them led the florist to her friend's bar.

"Marlene, Marlene!" Lydia shouted and went looking for the little girl.

"Marlene, your father asked us to take you to a good friend of his named Aerith, don't worry that he will be coming soon after he has a delivery to make." She explained to the girl so as not to scare her and then introduced her to Aerith.

The woman led the two friends and Marlene home. After leaving the girl in the care of Aerith and her mother, Lydia and Percy hurried up to the pillar of Sector 7 and up it. As they climbed the steps they saw the bodies of several of Shinra's soldiers, fortunately, there was no sign that their friends had been injured.

When they reached the control platform of the pillar, they saw how Barrett was already sliding down the hill with the help of a cable, Tifa and Jesse were fastened to him.

"Wedge, what's wrong!" Lydia shouted.

"Lydia, Percy, what are you doing here!" Wedge was surprised.

"We left Marlene at Aerith's and came to help you."

"You shouldn't have come, the pillar is about to collapse," Cloud told them.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," Percy said, and then he turned into a house cat and began to levitate.

"Hurry up and hold on to Percy!" Lydia ordered them and they all held the cat's legs.

"Percy, can you make it?" Lydia asked her worried.

"Unshoo... You're very heavy," complained Percy, but somehow he moved all four of them to a safe place in Sector 6, just before the whole of Sector 7 collapsed, crushing everyone living below.

"Uf... Lydia, are you okay?" Percy asked in the form of a cat and very exhausted.

"I'm fine, Percy," said Lydia and held her friend tight against her, "we're all safe because of you."

All the men thanked him, but then told Lydia that Aerith had been kidnapped by the Turks.

Lydia and the others went to the suburban park in Sector 6 and found Barrett and the girls. Barrett thanked Percy for saving his men and then they went to Aerith's house.

It was Cloud who led the group to Aerith's house as it seemed that Lydia did not feel strong enough to lead the group.

"How could they, how could they do it." Cried Lydia, and Percy was trying to comfort her.

.  
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When they arrived at the house they were relieved to see that Marlene was safe and sound, according to Aerith's mother, her daughter was captured as long as they left the little girl alone. Barret apologized to the lady, and confessed to them that Aerith was not really her daughter, but that she was the last of her kind, beings called the Elders and they called themselves the Cetra.

Barrett asked the lady to keep looking after Marlene, while they went to rescue Aerith.

"How are we going to get to Shinra's barracks?" Tifa asked. "All roads must be guarded."

"We can go through the market on the wall, if we go up the abandoned wires we can go up," Wedge suggested and everyone looked at him in amazement.

"Wedge, you're a genius!" Tifa praised him and the man blushed and looked down.

"Let's hurry up," Cloud rushed to the marketplace on the wall with everyone following him as fast as they could.

Faced with the blond man's interest in Aerith, Tifa and Jesse frowned, as did Lydia, although she did so for different reasons, as did Percy.

"This looks bad for Wedge," thought Lydia and Percy.

When they arrived at the market of the wall, they went up some cables and saw the damage caused by the collapse of sector 7 on the city.

Lydia turned her face when she couldn't stand the sight of such a horrible scene and Percy embraced her.

The cat boy frowned at Wedge, nodding his head to Tifa and telling him to take comfort too, as she too was apparently affected.

Wedge patted Tifa's arm affectionately and the woman smiled sadly at him.

.

.

They arrived at Shinra's building and Lydia was impressed, the architecture of the building was intended to intimidate anyone who saw it and was afraid of the aggressive multinational.

"Well, let's go in at once," Barrett ordered, but Lydia and the other girls gave him a hard look.

"Barrett, how do you think of it," Tifa said angrily, "that's the main entrance."

"We have to make a plan," said Jesse.

"I have one," Cloud said laconically, and Tifa and Jesse looked at the blond man with admiration.

"What's your plan, Cloud?" Lydia wanted to know a little doubtful that her friend had a decent plan.

"We shall enter like beasts." The blond man let go and Lydia squinted at him because of the disappointment while the other girls opened their mouths in shock.

"I like your plan," said Biggs.

"Take things seriously," Jesse criticized.

"Jesse is right, we can't enter through the front door, all of Shinra's soldiers would come at us," Tifa scolded them.

"But we have to make them pay for kidnapping Aerith." Cloud barked at them.

"Cloud, you can't go around attacking like a bull, you have to have a strategy," said Lydia and then looked at Percy.

"All right," Percy understood, turning into a cat and went out to explore the place.

After a couple of minutes Percy returned and told the group that he had found an unguarded side entrance, but they would have to climb several stairs.

"We better vote," Barrett said and he, Biggs and Cloud voted to enter the main entrance, while Lydia, Tifa and Jesse voted to find another entrance.

Everyone looked to Percy and Wedge to break the tie, but as expected the two boys voted in support of the women.

"I understand Percy voted for Lydia," said Biggs, "but why did you have to turn your back on us?"

"It seems to me that Tifa is right, if we enter through the front door, the whole army of Shinra will come upon us," Wedge said and Tifa smiled in gratitude.

Barrett rolled his eyes and gave up so the group had to go through the side entrance.

The group climbed the stairs at the side entrance and after several minutes the forces began to abandon them.

"Would you like a ride Lydia?" Percy offered himself as he was the only one who showed no signs of tiredness.

Lydia initially wanted to continue but was so exhausted that she finally agreed to be carried by Percy.

"Cloud, can you give me a lift?" said Tifa and Jesse at the same time, and then there was an awkward silence from the women, as for Cloud, he didn't seem to have the slightest interest in taking any of the girls.

Percy wanted to suggest to Wedge that he offer to carry Tifa, but as soon as he saw him and knew that he would be useless, of all the group, he was the most exhausted.

"Lydia and Percy are right, I must get in shape," thought Wedge who was on the verge of collapse.

The group continued up the stairs when Tifa, who was in front of the others, shouted.

"Kyaaaa!"

"What's wrong, Tifa!" Jesse shouted and everyone saw how Tifa was as red as a tomato and tried to pull down her skirt to cover her legs, an impossible task because of the short length of Tifa's dress.

"What's going on, Tifa?" Wedge asked him worried.

"Why, why wasn't I told?"

"Tell you what woman?" Biggs asked him.

"...If... you... see... do..."

"Tifa?" Jesse said somewhat hesitantly.

"You can see me... You can see EVERYTHING!" Cloud, you guys go ahead!

"Hey, nobody was looking at you!" Barrett told her.

"I don't care about that! All the boys go ahead!" Tifa ordered them very blushing and all the men agreed to go ahead of the steep stairs.

.

.

The group arrived at the top of the stairs and decided after taking a break to carefully enter the building.

The building was huge and several areas of it were restricted, fortunately they received help from someone unexpected. It turns out that the mayor of the city had his'offices' inside the building, this was because the mayor was actually a prisoner of Shinra and they kept him under control.

The mayor gave them several passes so that they could move around the building more safely, but it took them a long time to walk through the labyrinthine corridors trying to find out Aerith's whereabouts.

"Take cover!" Cloud ordered them to when he saw Shinra's president and other top executives of the multinational, including a man who appeared to be a scientist.

"I hope for a good report this time, Professor Hojo," said the president and both men got lost in the corridor.

The group tried to follow the two men but were frustrated by their attempts at a couple of massive doors, so Cloud went to one of the bathrooms on the floor where they were and decided to go through the air duct to see if he could find out anything.

"Cloud, let Percy go, in his cat-like form he is much lighter and more agile than you," insisted Lydia, but Cloud wanted to go to find out where Aerith might be at first hand.

"Girls, I think Cloud really likes that girl Aerith," Percy told Tifa and Jesse, pretending he was innocent, but deep down he was doing it so that Tifa would stop taking an interest in the blond guy and focus more on Wedge.

Tifa and Jesse frowned but said nothing. After a few minutes Cloud returned and informed them of everything he had seen and heard.

All were shocked by the lack of morale on the part of these men, who were celebrating the profits they would make from the plan to have killed thousands of people with the collapse of Sector 7.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	3. Fleeing from Midgar

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 3: Fleeing from Midgar**

The group came out of the bathrooms and decided to follow Professor Hojo, who would surely know where Aerith was.

Hojo went to his labs and started talking to an animal that was in containment in an armored glass cage, then left the place and Lydia and the others searched around.

There were several biological containers and in one of them there was a kind of headless humanoid, the container had a mark that reads Genova. Cloud looked at the beheaded humanoid and had some kind of attack.

"What's wrong with Cloud?" Tifa and Jesse asked worried, but no one seemed to know the answer.

Lydia frowned as she noticed something strange in Cloud's aura but could not specify what it was.

After the emergency and Cloud had recovered, the group toured the site and arrived at Aerith. The florist was locked in a huge cell of armored glass.

"Aerith, don't worry, we'll get you out of there!" Cloud shouted at her.

"Do you know any way to open the cell?" Lydia asked her.

"Yes, you must press those buttons and lower the lever on the left," Aerith explained, but Hojo appeared at the scene and ordered them to stop.

Suddenly, a trapdoor was opened in the middle of Aerith's cell and the animal that Hojo was confronting came up through it, it looked like a kind of wolf adorned with feathers and beads.

"Lydia, please!" Aerith shouted and Lydia operated the controls by opening the cell.

Cloud immediately jumped into the cell ready to face the strange wolf, but was astonished to see the animal introduce itself and offer to help him out of the building.

Hojo fled the place and the group set out to follow him, but the man released one of his experiments and they had to face him.

"I am very grateful to you for trusting me," Nanaki told them at the end of the battle and began to tell them how he was captured.

Lydia was impressed by Nanaki's courteous, retro style, but Percy was not amused.

Nanaki asked to accompany the group but Percy had his reservations.

"Felines and canines don't share a boat," he said with a frown.

"Percy, don't say that! Of course you're welcome to join us," Lydia said.

The other members did not object and Nanaki became a member of the group.

The group entered an elevator but then the Turks appeared in the adjacent elevator and set off a gas trap that facilitated the capture of the intruders.

Under the effects of the gas, they could do nothing to prevent the Turks from putting shackles and electronic rings around their necks to restrict their movements. They were then taken to Shinra's president and he told them that they would be executed for having demolished Sector 7 over the city.

"Damn you," roared Percy and received a shock that immobilized him.

"Take them to the cells awaiting execution," said the president laughing.

.

.

The cells were small but they had to share them. The four girls were in one cell, while the four boys shared the other, Nanaki and Percy were taken by animals and put in another.

"The cells are so small," Lydia complained sadly.

"Shinra's people don't care, they're going to execute us tomorrow anyway," said Cloud.

"Cloud!" Tifa scolded him and hugged Lydia to comfort her.

Wedge had a watch and told them that only a couple of hours had passed, but to the others it seemed as if much more time had passed. The wait was exasperating.

Percy tried to use his superhuman strength, but the cell door was apparently electrified, and he was sending out loud shocks if it was broken into in any way. He also tried to pass through the bars in the shape of a cat, but automatically closed the door of the bars, cancelling any attempt to escape.

After what seemed like a whole day, something strange happened, all the door locks were opened.

"What's going on?" Aerith asked.

"Maybe they want to give us the escape law," said Nanaki.

"How do you know about the fleeing law?" Percy asked him.

"Grandpa reads many books to me," said Nanaki.

"We won't get another chance like this, come on," urged Biggs and everyone came out of the cells nervous.

As they left the prisoner's room they saw that something was wrong, there were traces of fighting and blood all over the place, they even found several body parts scattered all over the place, which made the girls sick and the men swallowed nervous spittle.

"What the hell happened here?" Barrett asked himself.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out," said Biggs.

"Let's get out of here." Aerith begged.

"Okay, but first let's go to the president," Barrett replied and went in front of the others, forcing the whole group to follow him.

"Cloud, don't go so fast," said Tifa to the blond man who had already overtaken Barrett.

"Cloud, please wait for us," begged Jesse, but like Tifa, the blond man ignored her.

"Cloud, I'm scared, please hold my hand," said Aerith, and this time Cloud did stop and turn to go to Aerith and hold her hand.

"Thank you Cloud." The florist thanked him with a smile and Cloud just nodded his head trying to look tough.

They both followed Barrett again and both Tifa and Jesse frowned. Percy took Lydia's hand and with his free hand punched Wedge in the shoulder.

Wedge was about to reprimand him when Percy grabbed him and whispered something to him.

"Now that Cloud is back, there is a change of plans, the new plan is "I will always be with you" or IWABWY. So go to Tifa's place and stay close to her, however, also go to Jesse just for now or Tifa will get suspicious ," Percy said.

Lydia who was scared didn't have the courage to criticize Percy, so Wedge went to Tifa and Jesse.

"Girls, don't worry, no matter what happens I'll always be by your side," Wedge said, trying not to look guilty and the girls thanked him.

"How much were you talking to Wedge about?" Biggs questioned Percy.

"I just told him to watch out for the presence of the enemy and move more to the center of the group, you as the toughest member of Avalanche will cover our rear."

"Oh, sure, don't worry, you take care of Lydia and I'll cover your backs," said Biggs, full of confidence at Percy's words.

Percy laughed with disguise as Lydia watched him with her eyes narrowed and her brow slightly frowned. Nanaki, who had a good ear had heard it all but simply shook his head.

After climbing several floors where they found no one but traces of blood, they arrived at the office of Shinra's president.

The office was deserted except for the president who was in his seat with a sword through his back.

"What the hell happened here!" Barrett shouted and Cloud approached the body.

"No way, that's Sephirot's sword," whispered Cloud to himself and then he had another attack.

"Cloud!" Jesse shouted and went over to the blond man to see if she could do anything.

Tifa, for her part, looked at the sword in amazement.

"It cannot be, I recognize the sword, I would never forget it, but Sephirot is supposed to be dead," said Tifa with a look of fear on her face.

"Isn't Sephirot supposed to be dead?" Wedge asked.

"It should be, it was in all the papers," said Biggs.

"Newspapers that are owned by Shinra," Lydia told them, "I don't think we should trust what is written in them."

"There's someone there!" Percy shouted, pointing to a piece of furniture.

"There is no one here, Percy," said Aerith.

"Young Percy has the right intuition to be right," said Nanaki, "I too perceive that someone wants to hide his presence from us."

"Are you sure there's someone hiding?" asked Biggs, and in response Percy pointed to his cat ears and human nose.

Barrett went to check the furniture when suddenly a fat, gray-haired man shot out of the place.

"That guy is Palmer, one of Shinra's top executives," Cloud told them once he had recovered from his attack.

Barrett held the man down and forced him to tell him who killed the president.

"It was, it was Sephirot, I swore to you! I saw it with my own eyes!" Palmer was crying and took the opportunity to escape because at that very moment a helicopter seemed to land on the building's helipad, distracting Barrett.

"Don't let him go!" Lydia shouted but apparently everyone wanted to see who was coming in the helicopter.

"Don't worry Lydia, that Palmer is heading for the helipad, which is where we're going," Percy told her and the whole group went after Palmer.

Arriving at the helipad, they saw Palmer pathetically begging a young man in white to enter the helicopter.

The young blond man turned out to be Rufus, the son of the late president of Shinra.

"Wow, look what he's wearing," exclaimed Aerith.

"He looks much better in person than he does in the pictures," Tifa muttered.

"I'm sure he'll be a better president than his father," said Jesse drooling.

"Oh, girls," Lydia thought, staring at her friends in anger as the guy gave her a bad feeling and turning to look at him more closely, seeing that he was a monster like his father as his aura was shedding pure evil.

Rufus introduced himself and told them in a megalomaniacal way about his future plans as president.

"My father was a fool, he wanted to control everything through money, I'll do it through terror, so they'll obey me faster and I won't spend so much money."

This time the older girls changed their expressions and looked at him with disgust.

"Correction," thought Lydia. "He's not as evil as his father, he's much worse."

Cloud, angry with Aerith's previous reaction when she first saw Rufus, decided to stay and fight him alone and without help from anyone.

The other members decided to leave the building despite Lydia and Percy's criticism of not leaving Cloud alone.

"There's nothing to do, Lydia, that's the way Cloud wanted it," Percy said.

"What is he thinking? that attitude is so "macho" and stupid," complained Lydia.

The group took one of the huge elevators and began to descend when suddenly, the next elevator reached them and they saw that inside them there was a machine that started shooting at them.

"This is not a role-playing game, so attack everyone!" Percy shouted at them and the nine members began to fight back.

The enemy was tough, but the numerical superiority and lightning strikes of Percy were key to destroying the infernal machine.

"Where's Cloud?, why isn't he coming yet? Tifa asked in anguish as Jesse and Aerith looked forward to the elevator in case Cloud showed up.

They didn't have to wait long because Cloud came down the stairs on a spectacular motorcycle.

The group "borrowed" two vehicles as they could not all enter in one, and together with Cloud on the bike they escaped from the headquarters of Shinra.

.

.

The group was escaping on the highway when several Shinra soldiers on their own motorcycles attacked them. Fortunately, Cloud put himself in the rearguard and covered his friends by defeating all the bikers.

Barrett and Biggs slammed on the brakes because they had apparently reached the end of the highway.

"Damn it, the highway isn't finished yet!" Barrett roared.

"Barrett, we have bigger problems than that," Wedge pointed out to him, and indeed a huge robot was heading towards them.

Barrett decided that Percy's strategy was the most effective, so he ordered all ten members of the group to attack the new enemy.

"What are you doing? Stop taking turns and attack him at the same time!" Lydia told them.

"Don't stand in front of the robot, too, surround it and attack it from all four sides!" Percy pointed out to them.

Lydia and Percy's tactics paid off as the robot was defeated in a jiffy, because when he was about to attack someone, another member of the group would attack him from the other side and the robot would turn around and he could never strike a blow.

"Lydia, Percy. Where did you learn these tactics? They're great!" Biggs praised them and the other members exchanged glances and nodded strongly.

"It's just a matter of logic and common sense," Lydia replied strangely.

"Should I ask myself what our future course of action will be?" Nanaki asked.

"We must go on the trail of Sephiroth," said Cloud, "if he comes to the land of the elders, it will be the end of the world."

"What does that mean?" Wedge asked him.

"I don't know, I just know that we must go after Sephiroth or the planet will face a serious risk," Cloud replied with a blank stare and everyone exchanged worried looks.

"All right," Barrett said, "I too am very intrigued by Sephiroth's presence, but first I must go and see Marlene."

"Don't do it, Barrett," Lydia asked him worried, "all of Shinra and surely the Turks are looking for us too, you'll only put Marlene in danger, as well as Aerith's mother."

"Lydia is right, don't worry Barrett, my mother will take good care of Marlene," said Aerith.

"I guess it's decided, but how are we going to get out of Midgar? I'm sure the whole town is closed," Jesse asked himself.

"We'll use Wedge's plan, we'll slide through the wires until we get out of town," said Tifa.

Everyone looked at the horizon, the sun was beginning to rise in the same way that a new search was beginning for the group in their goal of saving the planet.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**

Maybe you are shocked by the attitudes of the FF7 girls, but I didn't invent them, in the game ALL the girls in the lead are drooling over Cloud, so much so that in the online comic book FF7 parody of ObstinateMelon, Aerith, angry, grabs the script of the game saying: "I have to find out why the hell I'm in love with this idiot, it doesn't make sense".

Remember that Jesse, Biggs and Wedge were saved because they trained in advance with the MATTERIA that Lydia gave them.


	4. Lydia's departure

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 4: Lydia's departure**

"Are you guys sure about this?" Tifa asked Lydia and Percy, "From now on things will be more difficult."

"Don't worry, Tifa, in fact, unless we face a zolom snake, things won't be as moving as they were in Midgar," Percy replied happily, his hands behind his neck.

The group descended down the cable and reached the outskirts of Midgar. Nanaki, lacking opposable thumbs, had to be helped by Percy, who turned into a cat, then extended his tail and wrapped it around Nanaki's torso, then flew with Nanaki and placed it on the ground.

"That was humiliating," they both said at the same time, once they had come down to the ground and suddenly looked at each other with fury.

"Percy, that's enough," said Lydia and her friend turned back into a cat boy.

"Where are we going now?" Wedge asked.

"We don't have any food or anything, let's get all the money we have and go to the town of Kalm, we'll buy something there," Barrett suggested.

"Wait a minute," Aerith cut him off, "I think it's time to choose a new leader."

"WHAT!" Barrett shouted.

"I said that I think it's time to choose a new leader," the florist repeated calmly and Barrett was on the verge of reprimanding her, but he was interrupted by the other girls.

"Hey, I think it's an excellent idea," Tifa nodded excitedly.

"I believe so, I vote for our new leader to be Cloud." jumped up excited, Jesse.

Barrett looked at women in disbelief.

"I think Barrett has done a good job as a leader so far," said Lydia, "I don't see why we should choose a new leader."

"I see the reason, they're obsessed with Cloud," Percy thought and shook his head while smiling amusingly.

"I can't believe this! What do you guys think?" Barrett said.

"Hey, don't push them!" Jesse scolded him.

"That's it, let's vote on it" suggested Tifa with a seductive pose.

"What the hell! Well, let's vote then!" Barrett said.

"Neither you nor Cloud should vote," said Aerith.

"All right, all right! Vote at fucking once!" Barrett got impatient.

"I vote for Lydia! Lydia for president! Gothic girls to power!" Percy exclaimed happily, jumping out of the air.

"Percy, I'm not disputing Avalanche's leadership, you have to vote for Barrett or Cloud."

"No, my vote will always be for you, Lydia, always!" Percy said to her, and Lydia blushed with a silver color that poked out of her cheeks.

After the girls finished laughing at how sweet Percy was, the voting began.

As expected, Tifa, Aerith and Jesse voted for Cloud. Biggs voted for Barrett the same as Lydia, while Percy continued to insist on voting for Lydia.

The surprise came with Wedge and Nanaki who voted for Cloud and so it was decided that Cloud would be the new leader.

"Cloud fought alone against Rufus and the bikers" justified his vote Nanaki.

Wedge was about to justify his vote by his admiration for Cloud, when he saw Lydia and Percy looking at him frowning.

"Not in front of Tifa, don't idolize Cloud in front of Tifa," Lydia and Percy thought nervously as they looked at Wedge.

"Emm, the same reasons as Nanaki," Wedge said, realizing that he almost screwed up and tried to look tough.

Barrett was furious and stepped away from the group to kick the ground and take away the frustration, while the three girls happily jumped up and surrounded Cloud with strange looks on their faces.

"I told you it was better to give Wedge a sharp style to his hair," Percy whispered to Lydia.

"This is ridiculous, the itchy hair would have nothing to do with who should be the leader," Lydia complained, looking down on Barrett and Wedge.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Lydia whispered to Percy.

"You mean much harder, I don't see how Wedge can beat Cloud," Percy said worriedly, and Lydia shook her head.

"What is your first decision as our leader?" asked the girls, radiant and flirtatious.

"Emmm, I think we should go to Kalm with our money together and buy some groceries," said Cloud scratching his nape.

"Excellent idea, Cloud," Tifa congratulated him.

"I knew you'd do well as a leader," smiled Jesse.

"We will always follow you Cloud," concluded Aerith.

The group set off for the town of Kalm. Lydia, Percy and Wedge were the ones closing the march.

"Is something wrong with you, Wedge?" Lydia asked him.

"No, there's nothing matter with me," said her cousin, crestfallen.

"Of course something is wrong with you," said Lydia as she hugged and rested her head on her cousin's arm.

"You know, Tifa may be walking behind Cloud right now, but they're not next to each other. You can go to Tifa's side as many times as you want, you just need to look ahead and go to her."

"I don't know, you saw how happy she was to support Cloud."

"Maybe, but I'll tell you something, you must always look up and smile at the horizon, only then will it be you who Tifa congratulates with a smile."

"Come on Wedge, it's just a few steps forward," Percy intervened this time.

"And what could I talk to her about?" Wedge asked nervously.

"Of simple things," Percy suggested, "you grew up in the city, while Tifa grew up in the countryside, talk about how exciting it will be to travel through the countryside to Kalm."

"What a good idea Percy, that would be a good topic to start with," Lydia agreed.

"But don't force the conversation, or you'll end up talking about how your stomach hurt one day or another," Percy suggested.

"Percy is right, don't force the conversation," said Lydia, and Wedge went to Tifa's place and took a deep breath to calm his nerves and started a calm conversation.

The journey to the city of Kalm was a long one and Wedge finally suggested that they stop and look for firewood to light a fire before they were surprised by the night.

"Wedge is right," said Tiffa, "I've already forgotten how dark the field can get at night."

Wedge looked at Lydia and Percy and thanked them for the suggestion with a nod.

"Tomorrow we will look for some water and food, we must get up very early because we will not be able to travel at night, it would be very dangerous," Wedge advised them, thanking them inside for the suggestions Lydia and Percy gave him.

"You know a lot about travelling in the country," said Tifa, "are you sure you grew up in the city?"

"Hey, I like watching documentaries," Wedge said, raising his shoulders as if it wasn't a big deal.

When the time came to do the guards, Percy and Wedge volunteered.

"Percy, why did you want us both to be the guards?"

"Easy Wedge, so you can get some exercise."

"But what about the guard?"

"Don't worry about it, remember that my senses of hearing, sight and smell are super-developed. No predator will come near us without I detect them first."

"Besides," Percy continued, "you can take the opportunity to take off your coat and put it on Tifa, imagine how grateful she will be when she wakes up. It'll make it easier for you to have a conversation with her."

"How can I talk to her if I'm going to be dead of sleep?"

"Don't exaggerate Wedge, no one is dying not to sleep for a day, besides, if she asks you why you are so tired, just tell her that you were watching out for the predators, so that they wouldn't come near her and she would always be protected and her sleep would not be disturbed."

"Wow, Percy, you're very..."

"I know, I am God," Percy laughed manically and covered his mouth the same way the evil females of the animes did, and the others looked at them somewhat intrigued.

.

.

Everyone went to bed to sleep and Percy covered Lydia with his coat.

"Have a sweet nightmare, Lydia," said Percy and kissed her, and the other girls giggled.

"Well, good night, girls," said Wedge and everyone went to sleep.

Percy, thanks to his super-developed senses, told Wedge when to take off his coat and tuck Tifa in with it.

"The perfect crime," said Percy with a chuckle.

Percy put himself on Wedge's feet so that he could do sit-ups, but Wedge had it difficult because of his overweight so the cat boy extended his tail and with it wrapped Wedge's torso and made it easier for him to do the exercises.

"It's like an exercise machine," Wedge thought, and he kept working out until dawn.

.

.

Lydia got up the next morning and thanked Percy for covering her with his coat. When Tifa got up, she saw with surprise that she too was covered with someone's coat.

"Good morning, Tifa," said Wedge, "I hope you slept warm."

"Is this your coat, Wedge? Tifa asked.

"Of course, whose else could it be?" Wedge said, behaving as if what he did was the most natural thing in the world and taking his coat he put it on his shoulder and then turned around and walked away without turning back.

"Well done, Wedge," Percy said, "but you don't think you should have offered her your hand to get her up."

"Ouch, I knew I forgot something."

When looking for food, Percy volunteered and after half an hour he returned with about ten rabbits.

"I don't see any cut marks on the rabbits," said Tifa. "How did you do it?"

Percy only extended his arms with his fingers outstretched and smiled maliciously, causing all but Lydia to exchange nervous looks.

.

.

The group arrived in Kalm and with the money they collected they decided to first take a bath and rest.

"Cloud, don't you think it's time you told us what's wrong with you?" Tifa asked him and Cloud told his story.

Cloud related how he came to his hometown with Sephiroth and how Sephiroth went mad when he learned that he was not human but a Shinra experiment.

"I don't remember, I challenged Sephiroth and I survived. How did I do it?"

Tifa looked at Cloud with a frown and Lydia could see how the blond man's aura was a mess, she had never seen anything like that in her life.

Cloud told them that Sephiroth was looking for the promised land, which was brimming with Mako energy and if he or Shinra found it it would be the end of the world.

After washing and resting, the group went in search of supplies and continued their march through the countryside.

.

.

The routine of traveling, camping, guarding, and picking up food early in the morning continued for several days. The only thing that broke the monotony was the attacks of some monsters that wandered around the area, fortunately they did not represent a challenge for the group of ten adventurers, thanks to the tactics of Lydia and Percy.

Wedge underwent Percy's hard training every other day, and after a couple of days you could tell how many pounds he had lost. In the end, the group arrived at a chocobo farm but did not have the money to buy these mounts and cross the swamp that would take them to the other side of the continent.

"Damn mountain range," Biggs said, "the only way to cross it by land is if we cross the swamp and we can't do it because there live the zolom snakes."

"We can't take an airship because all the accesses are guarded by Shinra," Barrett spat.

"Let's face the worm," Percy let them go.

"It's crazy, Percy," Lydia contradicted, "even with everyone around him and attacking him at the same time, it would be suicide."

"Collective suicide," said Jesse.

"Too bad the monsters don't let go of money when we beat them," lamented Aerith.

"Why would they release money every time we defeated them?" Lydia was surprised.

"I don't know, but it would be great if they did," said Aerith.

Lydia suggested going to the small town where she lived, where she could take her money and buy some chocobos on the farm when they returned.

"Won't your parents say anything?" Tifa asked her, a little worried.

"They don't stay at home for long, my father is addicted to work and my stepmother, well, she's never home."

Percy rubbed Lydia's back to comfort her and the whole group agreed to go to Winter River.

.

.

The small town was south east of the chocobo farm, nestled in a U-shaped mountain range.

"Is that your house, Lydia? Wow" Biggs whistled in awe as he saw the Victorian-style house on the top of a very uniform hill that dominated the view of the whole place.

Lydia set everyone up at her house and then said she would go and get all the money, so they wouldn't worry about her absence.

"Where are you going, Lydia?" Tifa asked him.

"I can withdraw some cash from my house, but maybe Shinra has already blocked my bank account," Lydia explained, "so I'll go to No World and withdraw money from my No Account there."

Everyone looked at her without understanding, and Lydia explained the parallel world of No World, the world of the dead.

"Unbelievable," Barrett said, "and how long will you be there?"

"It will only be a moment in No World, but in our dimension a couple of months will pass, that's why I didn't travel to No World before, I didn't want everyone to wait for me out in the open, here instead, you can wait for me comfortably."

"Won't we cause you any trouble with the neighbors?" Cloud asked.

"Don't worry, this is my house anyway, and I've already made a bad name for myself," Lydia reassured them without flinching and everyone looked at her strangely.

"It's because of the Gothic clothes that Lydia wears," Percy explained to them and then accompanied Lydia to perform the ritual.

"Take care of the others, don't let them get into trouble. And don't fight with Nanaki," Lydia said with a smile as she hugged Percy.

"You also take care of yourself, don't rush, take your time, and be careful crossing the streets," he advised her, and then they both kissed.

Percy went back to the living room and told everyone that Lydia had already left.

"I would have liked to say goodbye to Lydia," said Wedge.

"It wasn't necessary, remember, it will only be a moment for her," said Percy and then said goodbye to the friends to go to sleep.

Percy walked into Lydia's room, turned into a cat and then jumped on the bed.

"Lydia..." Percy whispered and curled up, lay down on the bed and cried.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	5. Cat vs dog

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 5: Cat vs. dog**

In the weeks that followed, Percy showed the group around the place.

"This is Lydia's school, located in the residential neighborhood of Peaceful Pines," Percy frowned.

"What's going on, Percy?" Barrett asked him.

"All the girls here are cretins, they think that because they are rich they can do whatever they want, Lydia has no friends in this place. The funny thing is that Lydia has more money than everyone in the city put together, but she doesn't like to brag about it."

"How's that?" Biggs asked him and Percy explained how Lydia rewrote "The Handbook for the Recently Deceased", earning an incredible fortune from No World.

"Lydia is very famous in No World, they even awarded her a medal... I know, I'll show you Lydia's medal!" Percy jumped up happy.

"That's impressive," said Barrett. "Emm, tell me Percy, can anyone go to No World?"

The girls looked at Barrett with pity as they knew where the question was going, Barrett's wife had been killed by Shinra's people.

"I'm sorry, Barrett, but only someone with magic can go there, and it's still forbidden to anyone alive. Only Lydia is the exception, well, Lydia and the cats."

"The family of the felines?" Nanaki was surprised.

"Yes, we cats can be on various existential planes or dimensions, if you prefer to call it that," Percy reported proudly.

The group cut through a creepy looking cemetery.

"That tree looks terrifying," shuddered Jesse, pointing to a tree that looked dead and twisted, with holes that emulated eyes and a wide, evil mouth.

"That tree is still alive, Lydia, who can see the aura of things, says it is a beautiful tree, with a very gentle and kind nature," Percy told them as he approached the tree.

"Lydia is right," said Aerith as she placed her palm on the tree.

"Can you also see the aura of the tree?" Tifa asked her.

"No, I can't see the aura like Lydia, but I can also feel that the tree is very kind."

The group crossed a picturesque covered bridge and climbed the hill to reach Lydia's house.

"Here it is, what do you think!" he showed them happy Lydia's award.

Everyone was amazed, the medal was the size of a plate and was made of solid gold, strange and macabre reliefs were found on its surface.

"Amazing," admitted Cloud.

Percy also showed them some newspaper clippings from No World, about Lydia and everyone read them carefully.

.

.

The days continued to go by in peace and everyone in the group spent their days training or doing some work or other. Wedge always offered to help Tifa with the kitchen and then to clean the dishes, also did exercises and started training with his weapon thanks to a sword fighting book that Percy bought him in town.

Wedge was doing his best to beat Percy in private combat sessions. Percy didn't know how to fight with swords but he made up for it with his superhuman strength and made Wedge's arms and legs work hard every time he stopped the cat boy's brutal attacks.

.

.

After what would be a little over a month, Lydia showed up back at the house.

"LYDIA!" Percy shouted and ran away until he melted into a hug with the girl.

"I missed you Lydia," Percy confessed, kissing her and covering their bodies with her long tail.

"I hope you didn't have to wait too long," said Lydia with a smile on her face.

"Em, hello guys, I already brought the money, now we can continue our search for Sephiroth," Lydia told them and the girls chuckled nervously as the men looked the other way.

.

.

The next morning, everyone was getting ready to leave for the chocobos farm, but apparently Nanaki and Percy in their domestic cat form were arguing.

"Cats are smarter!"

"Dogs are more Loyal!"

"Cats are INDEPENDENT"

"Dogs LEARN FAST"

"Cats are CLEAN, have more CLASS, are QUIET and BEAUTIFUL!"

"Dogs are FRIENDLY, they are not EGOISTS, they are BRAVE and CONSIDERED"

"Hey you! yes you, especially you, breasts with legs!" Percy called Aerith, Jesse and Tifa in a bad manner.

"I want you to clean the toilets instead of me," Percy ordered. "Frustrated mechanic, clean up the mess I made in the kitchen. And you porn actress, I want you to cook a feast for me while I take my nap. And you know why, you threesome of cheap whores? Because I fucking feel like it nya!"

The girls looked at Percy and then...

"Whatever you say!"

"You're so cute!"

"I love you!"

The girls told him as they hugged him against their breasts and covered him with kisses. Percy turned his mocking face to a dismayed-faced Nanaki and said.

"Can a dog do this?"

.

.

The group made their way to the chocobos farm and Percy in his domestic cat form and with his tail proudly raised as a banner was riding on Nanaki.

"Runs like the wind bulls-eye!" Percy said happily.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Wedge.

"I only cover an honorable bet, lost to the resolution of the ladies Aerith, Jesse and Tifa," Nanaki explained with a doomed face.

"Shhhhh! Rocinante is not supposed to talk!" Percy shut him up and Wedge rolled hisr eyes.

Hours passed slowly and the sun was scorching. Percy, seeing that Lydia was getting tired, got out of Nanaki and offered to give her a ride.

"Thanks Percy, but wouldn't it have been better to turn you into a panther and take one of the girls too?"

"That's a good idea, but the girls would take turns and Wedge wouldn't have a chance to take Tifa."

Lydia was thoughtful of how calculating Percy was, but she had no objection to the cat boy's idea.

Lydia whispered to Wedge and suggested that she carry Tifa, after all, now if she was fit enough to do something like that.

Wedge offered to take Tifa, but she refused the gesture with kindness. Aerith, seeing this, asked Cloud to take her as she was exhausted, but Cloud got nervous and turned a blind eye.

Lydia gestured for Wedge to carry Aerith and the man offered to give her a piggyback ride, which the florist gladly accepted.

.

.

"Why did you tell me to carry Aerith?" Wedge asked Lydia at night.

"It was so that Tifa wouldn't see you desperate to be by her side."

"That was a good covert Lydia," Percy said. "Now Wedge, take advantage of Tifa's sore feet and give her a couple of foot massages."

"But I don't know how to massage feets," Wedge said in a frightened voice.

"You only need to know how to massage feets when the person who receives it is not exhausted, like when they go to a spa," Percy said, "but when your feet are screaming with pain and tiredness, any massage is valid, especially on your heels."

Lydia nodded her head and Wedge went to Tifa who was tired and trying to massage her aching feet.

"Jesus Tifa, trying to massage your feet yourself is the worst thing," Wedge said with a smile.

"I know... it's hard, but my heels are killing me," complained Tifa.

"Umm, let me help you out a little bit," said Wedge like he didn't want the thing.

"What, no!... Wait... uyyyy... ohhh, that feels so good..." Tifa acknowledged and felt her whole body relax.

Wedge continued to massage Tifa's feet, taking care not to tickle her and focused on her toes and sore heels.

"Do you feel better, Tifa?"

"Yes... It feels good... Your fingers are wonderful Wedge. Where did you learn to massage?"

"Well, I have my secrets," Wedge said with a smile.

"Did you teach him to talk like that?" Lydia whispered to Percy.

"Nya, I mean yep," Percy said, "I taught him that the most important thing is to smile and look directly into her eyes, not to look at her lips and other'attributes."

"Well done Percy," Lydia praised him as she watched Tifa melt with Wedge's massages.

"Cloud, could you give me some massages?" Jesse pleaded him.

"Me too, Cloud," begged Aerith.

"Emm, I don't know anything about these things, you better massage each other," Cloud said to them and went to a faraway place.

"Cloud, he seems to have come out from an 80s movie," Percy whispered to Lydia.

"What a fool, that of playing hard ended in the eighties, and that of "a real man makes his back speak for himself in front of a woman" is so absurd."

"But it suits us in our plan to match Wedge and Tifa," Percy reminded her, and Lydia had to nod.

"Wedge please, give me a massage too" the other girls begged him as Cloud fled.

"Sorry girls," Wedge laughed, "but my services are required by Princess Tifa and then I'm afraid I have to go to Lydia and Percy's, I have some things to talk to them about."

"Don't be mean," begged the girls, but Wedge only laughed while still massaging Tifa's feet.

"Thank you Wedge, my feet thank you very much," Tifa thanked him with a smile.

"It was a pleasure, my princess, you can use my services whenever your pretty little cheeses need me," Wedge bowed and smiled at Tifa.

"Wedge!" Tifa told him, trying to show a frowned face, but in the end she laughed at his friend's idea.

Wedge made his way to Lydia and Percy's and turned a blind eye to the pleas of Aerith and Jesse.

"Good getaway from Aerith and Jesse" Lydia praised him.

"Thank you, I don't know how it suddenly occurred to me."

"But now you'll have to stay here until they fall asleep or they'll ask you to massage them and if you do, Tifa will think you're very docile and helpful to everyone," Percy suggested.

"That's right, you must act tough... But not as much as Cloud, which he exaggerates," Lydia advised him, and the three friends stayed and chatted until it was time for bed.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**

The peaceful pines and cemetery tour is based on Midori Mezurashi's incomplete manga (the witch of peaceful pines).

Percy and Nanaki's discussion at Lydia's house is inspired by Tracy Pierce's online comic CATENA.


	6. The food challenge

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 6: The food challenge**

When the new day came and they finally arrived at the chocobos farm, but to their dismay, all the chocobos had been sold or were in stock. The managers could only sell them the Chocobo Materia, which served to attract the birds, so they could capture them and then bring them to the farm, where they would domesticate them and put them in chairs and harnesses so they could ride them. They were also sold various chocobos food to facilitate the capture of the animals.

After what they considered an eternity, they finally managed to catch several chocobos and took them to the farm. Percy won when he caught an imposing and intimidating looking chocobo, which was black and at least three times larger than a normal chocobo.

"This chocobo is for you, Lydia" Percy offered her, so Lydia was happy.

"What will you call it?" Percy asked her.

"I think I'll call it Quick Death," Lydia decided with a smile and Percy brought the chocobo to the farm with the other captured birds.

"Wow," whistled the store manager when he saw the black chocobo, "well, I'll have yuor chocobos ready in a couple of days."

"What will we do in the meantime?" Biggs asked Cloud.

"I think we'd better go to Kalm and buy everything we need."

Since they had no choice, they had to return to Kalm. The road to the city was heavy, even the fighting with the occasional wandering monsters did not take away the slumber that friends had to suffer, and after the fighting they resumed the heavy walk.

"You look exhausted, Tifa. Now will you let me help you?" Wedge offered his help in a polite manner.

I" don't know, Wedge, I'm a little embarrassed that you're carrying me by piggyback," admitted Tifa.

"I see, well, there's a solution to that," said Wedge with a thoughtful gesture, and standing beside Tifa, he lifted her at the waist and then made her sit on his right shoulder.

"Wedge, no!" Tifa protested, but Wedge ignored her and started walking with impressive ease.

"See, that's better," Wedge reassured her, "because you'd be sorry to have to put both legs around my neck and carry you on my shoulders, too."

"Wow Wedge, when you became so strong," said Tifa, impressed by the way Wedge carried her sitting on his right shoulder, showing no sign of tiredness.

"Hey! I've always been this strong," Wedge replied happily, "I just fell for the charm of the dishes you were cooking, Tifa."

"You mean, is it my fault you were overweight?" Tifa said sadly and nervously.

"What? No! I'm just saying that your food is so delicious that I thought that was the best moment of my life, although of course, I think I'll have to limit myself once we finish our mission... It'll be a real ordeal to have to endure the temptation to repeat your delicious delicacies, Tifa!" Wedge whimpered melodramatically and pretended to cry.

Tifa laughed and they continued on their way to Kalm.

Once they arrived in the city, they took rooms and after resting and cleaning up, they divided up tasks to go shopping and selling everything they needed to continue the trip.

.

.

Late at night, Tifa found herself alone in the high courtyard of the inn, looking up at the stars and with an anguished expression.

"Tifa, is something wrong?" Wedge asked her, "You look worried."

"It's nothing Wedge, just, just..."

"Don't worry, Tifa, you don't have to tell me anything, I just want you to know that you can count on me, you don't have to carry any kind of load on your own."

"Thank you Wedge," Tifa replied with a smile and Wedge retired to his room when he saw that Tifa wanted to be alone.

"Cloud, the story you told us... Oh, Cloud, what's the matter with you?" Tifa thought in anguish.

.

.

The next morning, the group made their way to the chocobos farm. This time the trip was more enjoyable as they had everything they needed for the trip, including a backpack made for Nanaki to carry some things.

"Well, I think it's time for dinner," said Tifa, and she got rid of her backpack to get the canned food she bought in town.

They all imitated Tifa and searched their respective backpacks for some food containers, while Lydia went over to Wedge and whispered something to him.

"Wait Tifa," said Wedge, "you're always cooking for us, let me do it this time."

"No need to bother, Wedge."

"Let Wedge do it," Lydia asked, "I wanted to see how much my cousin learned how to cook while I was away."

"Wedge always helped you cook," Percy said, "let him take over this time."

Tifa wanted to protest but Wedge grabbed her by the shoulders and made her sit down.

"Well, that's settled. Tifa, let Chef Wedge take care of the banquet this time," Wedge told her.

"That's how you'll assess how much your student has learned," Lydia said.

"Well, Tifa?" Wedge said looking her in the eyes.

"All right, but I'm a very strict judge. You'll get a punishment if you burn a plate."

"All right, I accept," said Wedge, full of confidence.

"That's not fair, Tifa," Lydia said, "if Wedge is a good cook, you'll have to take a penitence."

"A penitence?" Tifa asked restlessly.

"Yes, I think a kiss would be appropriate."

"Yes, I agree with Lydia too," said Jesse happily.

"Kiss, kiss! was celebrating funny Aerith.

"It would be best," said Biggs with a smile on his face.

"You want me to give Wedge a kiss?" Tifa asked and the girls nodded.

"NO!" Percy shouted and everyone looked at him.

"Not like that, you'll cheat Tifa and kiss his forehead or his hands," Percy said with a frowning gesture.

"It will have to be Wedge who gives you a kiss, Tifa," said the cat boy with poise and a serious face.

Tifa looked around nervously but apparently everyone agreed with Percy's idea.

"Yes, so Tifa won't cheat," Barrett said with a thoughtful gesture.

"Once the noble challenge is set, it's impossible to turn back, otherwise it would make a dent in honor," said Nanaki.

"And not just a kiss on the cheek," adds Percy, "Wedge will kiss you wherever and however he wants."

"No turning back Tifa," said Lydia elegantly.

"And when I say wherever and however, I mean that, he can kiss you by hugging you, or by putting his hands wherever he wants, and kiss you with his tongue wherever he wants and for as long as he wants. None of the "just a second" rule."

"Percy!" Lydia reproached him, but the cat boy kept looking at Tifa defiantly.

Tifa looked at Cloud, and Percy asked the blond what he thought, knowing his answer beforehand because Cloud was so predictable.

"I don't care what you do," said Cloud with his typical tough-boy stance and his shoulders up.

"You know what," Tifa concluded with a frown at Cloud's attitude, "I'm not the type to throw a challenge and then back down."

The girls applauded and Wedge spoke again.

"Calm down Tifa, if only one of us is not satisfied with my food, there will be no penance - he calmly reassured her. Also, even though it is canned food, everyone can ask me what kind of dish they want me to prepare for them, the harder the better."

They all cheered loudly for Wedge's chivalry (except for Cloud the tough one in the story), but Lydia and Percy exchanged nervous looks.

As expected, everyone ordered very complicated dishes, except Lydia and Percy who ordered Vienna sausages with scrambled eggs and little salt.

Wedge began to prepare the dishes with a smile on his face and humming a soft melody. As the minutes passed, a delicious aroma spread through the place.

Wedge handed out the food plates and everyone started tasting them.

"Well, what do you think?" Wedge asked them.

"It's delicious!" They all agreed, and were surprised that Wedge had not only not burned any plates, but had prepared real delicacies for them.

"What about you, Lydia?" Wedge asked him.

"It's delicious Wedge."

"What about your dish, Percy?" Wedge asked him with a mocking smile on his face.

Percy frowned at Wedge and then looked back at his plate, which was burnt and nauseating in appearance, and as if that were not enough, the food gave off strange green and purple vapours that emitted an unbearable stench.

"Well, don't you like it?" Wedge asked him again.

Percy looked at Lydia begging but she begged him to eat the dish.

Percy's hand shook as he put the food in his mouth, but in one quick bite the cat boy stuffed his mouth full of food. The unrecognizable, stinking mass had the strange consistency of plastic burnt with hot snot.

The whole group watched in amazement as Percy continued to chew and swallow every bite. The cat boy was about to finish eating and gave Wedge a wild, triumphant look, but at that moment his face contracted and he began to vomit.

"Umm, well, I think I lost," Wedge said, raising his shoulders the same way Cloud did.

"You shouldn't have pushed Tifa so hard," Lydia whispered to Percy as she brought him a glass of juice, "Wedge finally sabotaged himself."

After the meal, the friends prepared to go to bed.

"Good night, girls," Wedge told them and the girls replied in the same way.

.

.

They arrived at the chocobos farm and the manager already had all the birds domesticated, including saddles and reins, all of them blue.

Seeing the chocobos in all that blue, Percy began to laugh out loud.

"Look Lydia, those chocobos look like Cloud."

"What?" Biggs said

"They look like Cloud," Percy replied as he held his ribs by the laughter.

"Percy..." wanted to criticize Lydia but she immediately saw the similarity of Cloud's hair with the chocobos and closed her eyes tightly so as not to laugh because she thought that laughing at others was something bad and vulgar.

"Hey, Percy's right, look!" Barrett shouted and started laughing so hard that the chocobos started to get nervous, except for Lydia's imposing black chocobo.

"Hey, I don't look like a chocobo," said Cloud with a frown.

"I see that these yellow birds have a certain similarity to the hairstyle of our leader," said Nanaki.

"It is true nya, from now on you will be known as "chocobo head"... Oh my ribs, I cannot stop laughing."

"My hair looks nothing like a chocobo," shouted Cloud angrily.

"Don't be angry, Cloud, and you look as cute as a chocobo," Tifa said, stifling his laughter.

"It's true, you're the cutest chocobo I've ever seen," laughed Aerith.

"Yes, you're our chocobo," Jesse winked at him.

After the humiliation session, the group mounted their respective chocobos and headed for the swamp to reach the mountain range that would take them to the other side of the continent.

"Well, get ready, we'll go full speed ahead," Cloud told them. Nanaki, you hold on to Biggs so you don't fall.

As they crossed the swamp, they saw how the zolom snake followed them underwater, but the chocobos were faster.

They reached the base of the mountain range and the giant snake could no longer follow them. The group began to breathe calmly when they saw a terrifying spectacle.

A zolom serpent was impaled on a gigantic dead tree.

Cloud approached and saw from the wounds on the snake that it was Sephiroth who defeated the monster.

All exchanged frightened looks at the demonstration of Sephiroth's power.

"And we are supposed to be following Sephiroth," Lydia thought alarmed, and Percy, reading the look on her face, proceeded to embrace her.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	7. The unfortunate phrase

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 7: The unfortunate phrase**

The group toured the base of the mountain range and finally managed to find the cave through which they could pass to the other side of the continent, however, the access proved to be very narrow for the chocobos.

"Apparently we'll have to leave the chocobos in this place," said Cloud.

"Damn it, I'm sorry, Lydia, but in the end we wasted your money," Barrett apologized.

"Don't say that, Barrett, money is nothing compared to the safety of the planet, I'm just sorry to have to leave our friends to their fate," lamented Lydia, stroking Death Fast's neck.

"Don't worry, Lydia, we'll take their saddles and harnesses off, remember that they're faster than zolom snakes so they won't get hurt," Percy reassured him.

The friends got out of the chocobos and took away their saddles and harnesses.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself. Quick death," Lydia whispered to him as she hugged the chocobo.

"QUACKKKKK" the chocobo croaked proudly and nobly to her, and along with the others they headed back to the swamps.

.

.

The group entered the caves to find the right step to take them to the other side, when they met nothing less than the Turks.

The enemies were arrogant and said that rumors had it that Sephiroth was in Junon, and then they proceeded to fight. The Turks thought they were invincible but did not count on the tactics of Lydia and Percy, so they were defeated quickly and fled the scene.

Following the route taken by the Turks, they left the mountain range on the other side of the continent and made their way to the city of Junon.

"We have to go through a place called Fort Condor before we get to Junon," Cloud told them as he looked at the map and they all headed for the fort that was nestled in a mountain.

After several hours, they arrived at the fort and had to climb a rope to enter the complex. Nanaki had to be helped by Percy.

Once upstairs Nanaki, the girls, especially Tifa, ordered the men to go up first for obvious reasons. Percy helped Lydia up the stairs so she wouldn't hurt her hands climbing the rough rope.

As they toured the strong condor, they discovered that it was inhabited by people fighting against the multinational Shinra. Apparently the multinational wanted to appropriate the power of the local mako energy and in doing so would destroy the nest of a condor of gigantic proportions.

The group went up to the fort's observatory and saw the giant condor's nest. The bird was gigantic and imposing and at that time was hatching several huge eggs.

"Superb," said Biggs.

"I've never seen such a huge bird before," Wedge admitted.

"Look at those big eggs," said Tifa, impressed.

"They're very beautiful," Aerith pointed to the eggs.

"They look delicious," Percy drooled and Jesse, who was standing next to him, elbowed him on the head.

"Auch, Lydia..."

"You deserve it" he was not comforted by Lydia and Percy looked sad, so Nanaki laughed.

The leader of the strong condor begged them to help him defend the nest, as several soldiers and biological weapons from Shinra (monsters) would attack the stronghold condor. He also asked them to use the money they had to acquire the service of mercenaries not so inclined to help Shinra and thus form a temporary army to stop the invasion of the multinational.

"We just need to stop them until the eggs hatch," begged the leader of the fort.

Cloud looked at Lydia and accepted with what they hired all the mercenaries on the spot and prepared for battle.

Shinra's army was confident and did not worry that an ordinary cat would walk through their camp watching everything.

"It was Wedge's idea to send Percy to spy on the enemy," Lydia told Tifa.

"Yes, when Percy returns, we can know the exact number of the enemy and his composition."

"This will benefit us a lot in battle, isn't Wedge very clever? "Lydia pointed out to her.

"You're right, for a while now Wedge has been very clever," admitted Tifa and kept looking through the window with her binoculars.

When Percy returned, he gave a detailed report of the enemy units, whether they were human or not, as well as the strategy they would employ.

Barrett smiled and forgot that he was no longer the leader and ordered the others to get ready.

"Barret, remember that by democratic vote we elected Cloud as our representative," Nanaki reminded him.

"I know, but my blood boils when I know we will face Shinra," the giant exclaimed excitedly.

"Don't let your emotion cloud your judgment, Barrett," recommended Jesse.

Late in the afternoon the attack began and thanks to Percy's espionage work, Avalanche and the mercenaries defeated Shinra's army.

The whole group was celebrating happily when the leader of the stronghold condor told them that the eggs would soon begin to hatch.

The group went to the lookout and saw how the giant bird rose and its whole body began to shine, then life seemed to abandon the bird and it collapsed into the abyss.

"No! What happened!" shouted Jesse.

"I understand... Sometimes, for something to live, something has to die," Lydia muttered sadly.

"You're right Lydia, sometimes that's the natural order of things," said Aerith and crossed her fingers and said a silent prayer.

A noise came out of the shells and everyone saw how the eggs hatched, hatching from these giant chicks that in a matter of minutes developed feathers and began to fly across the sky until they were out of sight.

"Do you think they'll be okay without their mother?" Biggs asked.

"Don't worry," calmed an old man in the fort, "these birds will have no problem surviving because they are independent and able to fend for themselves from the moment they are born."

"What will they do with the mother's body?" wanted to know Lydia.

Some of their feathers will act as talismans for our people and the rest will be buried to nourish the earth and return to the vital current.

The group did not want to ask what was that about the vital current and decided instead to buy various items that would help them on their journey and since it was late, they took some rooms in the fort to spend the night.

.

.

Tifa, who could not sleep, went to the outskirts of the viewpoint to think about the events of the day. As she left the viewpoint she discovered that Wedge was sitting on a water tower and staring at the stars.

"Wedge?" Tifa said and her friend turned to look at her.

"Tifa, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep and went out to clear my head."

"Go upstairs, the view from here is incredible and quiet."

Tifa went up to the water tower and couldn't help but think that she did the same when she was a child, believing that Cloud would declare himself to her in her village.

However, it was not all the same, that time Cloud was waiting for her sitting down, while now Wedge offered her his hand to climb safely to the platform.

"Be careful, Tifa, I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

"Thank you Wedge, you're very kind."

Wedge did not let go of Tifa's hand and carefully guided her to the front of the tower.

"You see, this view is very quiet, Tifa."

"You're right, Wedge," admitted Tifa when she saw that Wedge was right. The moon was enormous in the night sky and at its feet a huge forest stretched out like a calm, laurel green sea.

"And why were you here alone, Wedge?"

"Well, I was thinking about what Lydia and Aerith said about how for something to live, something has to die."

Tifa stared at Wedge, as that was the same reason she couldn't sleep.

"In Midgar," Wedge continued, "all those people died when Sector 7 collapsed, did they die so that we could live? We went to protect the pillar of sector 7, we were willing to die to protect all those people and in the end we were the ones who survived. Did we survive to save the planet? I don't consider myself special enough to have survived, I don't consider myself more special than little Tina, or Mrs. Betolda, or the old baker..."

"Stop it, stop it," said Tifa as she cried and hugged Wedge's arm. "Please, that's enough..."

"I'm sorry, Tifa, I'm an idiot."

"No, no, you're not," nodded Tifa.

"Yes I am, you know, Shinra took everything you had that was valuable... Some nights I'd see how your eyes were red, you'd say it was because of the onions, but I knew you were crying because of your father and other people. How I hate Shinra! I swore, I swore, that I would make them pay for making my beautiful and precious friend cry... And now, I am the one making you cry."

Tifa stared at Wedge.

"They don't make them like you anymore," said Tifa with a smile on her face, and they both looked at each other.

Tifa looked at the landscape again, and then her face rejoiced.

"I forgot that you owe me a penance for burning a plate," she said with a wicked look on her face, and made Wedge jump up and down on the platform in a flash.

"Ehhhh!"

Tifa stood up and approached Wedge with a mischievous gesture that caused Wedge to swallow saliva.

"But of course, you sabotaged yourself because you are a gentleman, but now I want to receive penance."

"What?"

"It wasn't fair, you could have won, so I want to keep the bet."

Wedge swallowed saliva, but finally had a plummet.

"Okay, Tifa, you're right, but close your eyes, okay."

Tifa closed her eyes and waited for the kiss. Would it be with tongue? Would it be a long and passionate one? Tifa felt Wedge's hands land on her shoulders and descend softly, caressing her arms and hands. Then he felt Wedge kiss her hands.

Tifa opened her eyes and watched Wedge with a bent knee kiss her hands.

"I was supposed to kiss you wherever I wanted," Wedge said with a smile and Tifa was very disappointed, but then Wedge stood behind Tifa and put one hand on her belly and with the other she grabbed her chin, forcing her to see him.

"I am also supposed to be able to put my hands where I want them to be," he said to her very close to her face.

"Cheater, it was only supposed to be a kiss," said a blushing Tifa.

"But if Percy had not intervened, you would have cheated and kissed me on the hands like I did a moment ago. Doesn't it hurt when you wait for a love kiss on the lips and get a chaste kiss somewhere else instead?"

"I'm not bad myself, but I did that with several guys, I guess I'm paying for it now."

"You won't have... to pay... or regret... or anything... with me," Wedge said to erm as he approached and went back naughty to Tifa's lips.

Both kissed passionately, Wedge, who was still behind Tifa, grabbed her hands and intertwined his fingers with the girl's, hugging her as if he never wanted to let her go again.

At the end of the kiss, Tifa turned and looked Wedge in the face, then leaned her forehead against the mans chest.

"What a kiss," they both said at the same time, looking at each other all of a sudden and laughing.

Tifa and Wedge sat back on the platform and talked about simple and simple things that had nothing to do with the mission or the sad past of both of them.

"Yhawwww" gave a huge yawn Tifa.

"Don't eat me, Tifa," said with a Wedge smile.

"Oops, sorry, Wedge."

"I think it's time for you to go to bed, Tifa, we have to go to Junon very early."

"But it's almost dawn."

"Oops, you're right."

"You see Wedge, if I go to bed now, then my sheets will stick."

"Why don't you sleep here? I promise I won't let you down."

Fort Condor was a place with a very hot climate, so Tifa accepted. She lay on the platform and leaned her head on Wedge's thighs, while the man covered her with his jacket.

"Your clothes are very comfortable Wedge."

"Shhhhhh," Wedge calmed her as he stroked Tifa's hair, " sleep quietly, Tifa."

.

.

When it was time to leave, Percy went out to the lookout and called Wedge.

"SHHHH!" Wedge silenced him from the platform of the water tower and Percy began to sniff out Wedge.

"So Tifa is with you, so no wonder she didn't show up either," Percy said with a smile. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt Tifa's sleep, but we have to go, everyone's downstairs already."

"Thank you, Percy, we'll be right there."

"Tifa, Tifa, wake up, we have to go now, everyone is waiting for us" woke her up softly and with the greatest tenderness with which he could vocalize.

"Mmm, what a delicious kiss you gave me, Cloud."

On the outskirts of the fort condor Percy told Lydia about what he saw or, rather, smelled. Lydia's face was lit up with the happiness of discovering that Wedge had finally won Tifa's heart, when the alluded people came out of the fort.

Tifa seemed to have cried and Wedge had a sour look on his red face from the rage.

At first Aerith and Jesse whistled at Tifa and Wedge, mocking them for disappearing and then leaving the fort together, but then they realized that something bad had happened and cut all the mockery.

"Tifa?"

"Tifa, what happened?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong with me," she told her friends as she wiped away her tears and carried her backpack.

"Wedge?" wanted to ask Lydia, but her cousin passed by and grabbed his backpack with more force than he needed to, and started to walk at a fast pace as he put on his backpack.

Barrett wanted to ask what was wrong but stopped when he saw Wedge kicking a huge stone on the ground and sending it away.

Lydia wanted to run to her cousin but Percy stopped her as he shook his head.

"But..."

"No Lydia, leave him alone, wait for him to calm down and I still think it's best if I talk to him."

Wedge, who also had a map, went ahead of the others and continued walking without turning around.

"What happened?" cried Lydia.

"I don't know, this morning Wedge seemed very happy, and I could hear how Tifa's heart was also beating happily... Now Tifa's heart beats sadly and Wedge's heart... it's like he's crying."

It was too much for Lydia, who rushed to Tifa with an angry face.

"Lydia!" Percy shouted cursing himself for his stupidity.

Biggs and Cloud watched as Lydia ran to Tifa and then watched as Percy begged them with his eyes.

"Biggs, Cloud, get out of the way!" Lydia ordered them with a look so strong that it made the two tough men to be scared, but Nanaki's intervention made them recover and they cut Lydia off.

"Lydia, that's enough," Percy had caught up with her and held her tightly.

"Don't meddle, Percy."

"No, please don't, think about Wedge, don't complicate things any more," Percy begged her and this calmed Lydia down.

In front of them was Tifa, who had heard everything, but preferred to pretend and continued walking.

"What about Wedge and Tifa?" Cloud asked, but Biggs and Nanaki played it cool.

Lydia was on the verge of answering the blond man, but decided to leave him in the dark, lest he should open his eyes and decide to be interested in Tifa.

"Nothing Cloud, I'm sure they had a childish argument or something, don't worry, I'll talk to Wedge later," Percy said quickly and walked away from Cloud.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	8. The reconciliation

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 8: The reconciliation**

The march was the quietest and most uncomfortable the group ever had, but then Percy broke the silence.

"Guys, someone's following us."

"Who or what could be, Percy?" Lydia looked to the sides.

"A human, woman, very young, is very agile, cunning because she hides against the wind," Percy said, sniffing and waving his ears.

"My sense of smell and my ears also perceive someone hidden in the shadows," Nanaki confirmed.

The group exchanged nervous glances and rushed through, but the stalker seemed to be following in their footsteps.

"Nanaki I want you to help me" Percy asked him what Nanaki was surprised with but then nodded.

The group moved forward into an area with high vegetation and Nanaki took the opportunity to go after whom followed them as Percy did in the form of a black panther.

Whoever followed them realized he was being ambushed and decided to flee in a hurry but there was nothing he could do about it in the face of two accomplished predators.

Nanaki cut off the woman's step in front, hidden behind some bushes, began to move these to attract the woman's attention and when she was about to throw a giant shuriken, Percy appeared on her left side very close to her face.

"Clever girl," the woman muttered and Percy pounced on her and then Nanaki.

The group heard a woman scream and then a deadly silence. But after a minute they saw Nanaki and then Percy with his jaw holding a young girl by her underwear.

"Auch!" complained the young girl who appeared to be a ninja when she was thrown to the floor without any regard.

The free ninja already wanted to escape but Percy stopped her by putting a paw on her back, then he approached the girl's face and began to growl at her.

"Don't eat me! I surrender! Please don't eat me!"

Percy bit into the girl's head and started to shake her hard.

"Stop it, Percy, you'll kill her!" Lydia shouted in fear and Percy stopped.

"Sorry, sorry, I swear I won't do it again," said the ninja girl crying and sniffling.

Percy became a cat boy, although unlike the times he returned to his cat boy form after turning into a cat, this time he was naked.

"Percy, cover yourself!" Lydia ordered him, and clothes began to cover his naked body, which impressed everyone.

The girl introduced herself as Yuffie and claimed to be a ninja. She was following the group because she saw Percy and was intrigued by his cat boy nature.

According to the legends, it was the cat girls who taught the ninja techniques to my people, but as a human being was not powerful enough to learn all the techniques, the cat girls decided that each student should know at least one technique and in this way the various ninja clans of today were formed," Yuffie told them.

"Please let me come with you, I'll do anything, anything!"

"What do you say, Percy?" Lydia asked for his opinion.

"Why you ask Percy, I'm the leader," Cloud said.

"To see if she's lying," said Lydia.

"Let's see... No, she's not lying, her heartbeat tells me," Percy told them.

"So you'll do anything?" Biggs said, pretending to be malevolent.

"Yes, whatever," Yuffie cried.

"Then become food!" Percy shouted at her and turned into a panther, biting her from the spine and starting to shake her.

"I'm not salmon, I'm not salmon!"

"Percy, stop it!" Lydia shouted angrily at him and Percy let her go.

"Percy, I know you're playing games," said Lydia, "but with your pantherly strength you can kill her without realizing it."

"I'm sorry," Percy apologized sadly once when he turned back into cat boy.

"Say that after covering yourself," Lydia whispered with drooping shoulders and a tired voice.

Lydia thought it wise to tell Yuffie what they were doing, so she gave her a summary of who they were and what they had done so far.

Once Yuffie had joined the group, they resumed their journey to Junon.

"Why is everyone so happy and smiling?" Yuffie asked sarcastically, and Lydia told her what happened with Tifa and Wedge in the morning, as well as Tifa's obsession with Cloud.

"Maybe they got into a fight because she told him it was all a mistake and she couldn't forget Cloud."

"I'll find that out tonight," said Frowning Percy.

.

.

At night Tifa prepared dinner and everyone ate in silence as she and Wedge still looked tense.

After the tense dinner, Wedge offered to stand guard, knowing that he would not be able to sleep, and Percy also offered.

"Wedge?" Percy asked nervously as he approached the man after everyone else had gone to bed.

"What do you want, Percy?" Wedge said grudgingly.

"Lydia is very sad and worried, she wants to know what happened, please tell me Wedge, did you know that Lydia was crying?" Percy lied to soften Wedge.

"Was Lydia crying?"

"Yeah, maybe it doesn't mean anything to you, but Lydia is everything to me and it tore me up to see her like that. Please, Wedge, tell me what happened."

Wedge told him about his meeting with Tifa in the evening, how they finally kissed and then came the disaster of this morning.

"Wedge... I'm so sorry," Percy said.

"I got angry, I told her I was a fake for using me to stop thinking about Cloud."

"But Wedge, a dream is just that, a dream, no one can control the dreams and I can assure you that they mean nothing."

"They mean something, in her case, that she can't forget Cloud."

"And what else did you tell her, Wedge?"

"I told her to stop talking to me and go to the Cloud once and for all."

"And Tifa?"

"She yelled at me, told me not to talk to her anymore and that she wouldn't talk to me."

Percy shook his head and tore the grass from the ground, then threw it away furiously.

"Wedge, you couldn't, couldn't both control yourselves and shut your mouth," he said to him in exasperation at the end.

"It doesn't matter now, I'll just concentrate on the mission."

"Wedge!"

"Don't bother me anymore, Percy, and let's stand guard," said Wedge and walked away from the cat boy.

.

.

In the morning, Percy told Lydia what had happened and she looked dismayed.

"I can't believe it, all because of a silly dream and a silly quarrel!"

"What are we supposed to do, Lydia?"

"We have to talk to these two fools, the problem is that we' re arriving in Junon today and we'll be very busy with the mission."

"But Wedge doesn't want anything to do with Tifa anymore. The plan was for Wedge to win her heart, because he was in love, but now he's not, so what do we do? Are we not intervening anymore?"

"Of course Wedge is still in love with Tifa, but he's hurt and the fact that he's confused keeps him stubborn, but believe me Percy, Wedge surely wants to clear things up with Tifa for good."

Percy agreed, but as Lydia told him, time was the problem, and indeed, at noon the friends arrived in the city of Junon.

Junon was a coastal town that had lost its way of life because of Shinra, during the war against Wutai, the multinational had covered the whole town with a platform that served to build a new city and military base that also served for the placement of a giant mako cannon. The war ended before the cannon was fired, but Shinra decided not to dismantle the military base and cannon, which greatly affected the ecosystem of the place, leading to famine and despair for the people who once lived there.

"Just like in Midgar, Shinra covered the whole village and now the sun doesn't reach the whole place," said Barrett.

"I hate the way Shinra's people believe they have the right to be the masters of people's lives and dignity."

The group entered the village and went to the entrance of the base to enter the city, but the guard forbade them to enter because Rufus, the new president of Shinra would arrive and a parade would be held with only the inhabitants of the city and everyone else would be banned from entering.

"What are we going to do now?" Biggs said.

"Let's ask around town, see if there's another entrance we can use," suggested Jesse.

As they approached the beach, they heard the screams of several people, apparently a sea monster had appeared and was attacking a girl named Priscilla.

The group rushed to the girl and could see that she was floating unconsciously near the monster, which would have eaten her by now had it not been for the intervention of a dolphin that distracted the beast, but she was getting tired and began to approach the girl again.

"Somebody do something!" Aerith shouted.

"I'll take care of it!" Wedge shouted and ran straight to the sea, then plunged spectacularly to save the girl.

Wedge swam furiously into the waves and held the girl down. The monster tried to gobble them up but received a shock from Wedge's weapon, which fortunately could also fire underwater.

As the monster was in the sea, the group could not surround him and what is worse, only remote attacks against him worked.

Barrett with his cannon-arm and Percy with his lightning attack were the only ones who could attack the monster at any moment. The others like Yuffie, they could only throw their gun at him once and that was it.

Tifa saw the fight as impotent, because unlike the others, she only used hand-to-hand combat.

"Tifa, take some Healing Materias and together with the others support Barrett and Percy!" Lydia urged him.

"Nanaki! Wedge shouted, Take care of the girl, I'll go and attack the monster too."

Wedge ran to his two friends and started shooting at the monster.

"Good thing my gun serves as both sword and rifle at the same time," Wedge thought.

The monster was very powerful and defeated Barrett and Percy, then Wedge betting it all, plunged into the sea and drew the monster's attention, who swallowed Wedge in one bite.

"WEDGE!" shouted the members of the group, but when the monster raised its neck, Wedge's sword rifle came out of the monster's muzzle and then the weapon split the monster's muzzle in two, causing it to eject Wedge.

Wedge fell badly into the sand and to top it all off, the monster's inert body nearly crushed him as it collapsed on top of him.

"Wedge, Wedge!" Lydia shouted as she ran to her cousin.

"Don't come near me, Lydia, I'm covered in the monster's blood," Wedge said, but Lydia didn't care and hugged her cousin tightly.

"Don't be silly, I'm not some spoiled princess who values her dress more than her cousin," said Lydia.

"Are you all right, Wedge?" Tifa asked him who looked worried.

Wedge and Tifa looked at each other in silence.

"I'm sorry..." They started saying at the same time when Nanaki called them worried, apparently the girl wasn't breathing.

"We have to give them artificial respiration," Aerith urged.

"Does anyone know how to give artificial respiration?" Yuffie asked, and they all looked at each other shaking their heads.

"I know how to give artificial respiration," nodded Wedge, who had already recovered and arrived at them.

Wedge leaned over to the girl's side and opened her mouth, making sure that she had nothing in her throat, nor that she had swallowed her tongue. He then proceeded to give her mouth-to-mouth.

After a few moments, the girl reacted by expelling the water from her lungs. Wedge took her in his arms and, guided by the locals, took her home.

Wedge arrived at the girl's house and laid her on her bed, tucking her in lovingly and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Sleep well, little one," Wedge said with a fatherly gesture.

The locals explained to the group that the girl and her dolphin friend were playing on the beach when the monster appeared, then thanked them, especially Wedge.

"Wedge, you did very well, didn't he girls?" Lydia asked.

"That's right, you were amazing with the monster!" Yuffie said in amazement.

"And the way you went about fighting him," said Jesse.

"How you cut him with your sword to defeat him!" Aerith continued.

"I was referring to how he gave the girl artificial respiration and tucked her in lovingly," Lydia said, looking sadly at her friends, as if they were children who didn't notice anything.

"Wedge," continued Lydia, "you are a man among men."

"You're right Lydia," said Tifa and everyone looked at her, especially Wedge who blushed.

"We'd better get out," Barrett suggested and everyone decided to leave the room to leave Tifa and Wedge alone.

An embarrassing silence remained in the room, interrupted only by the child's breathing.

"I'm sorry," they tried to say at the same time, interrupting each other, looking at each other and then laughing.

"Forgive me, Tifa, I behaved like a fool, I should never have told you those things, after all it was just a dream."

"You don't have to apologize, in fact I'm the one who should apologize, I should never have said those hurtful things about not talking to you again, I was the one who behaved like an idiot."

"Don't say that, Tifa, I'm the one who started it, you should kick me right now."

"I'm the one who should get kicked."

"But I made you cry! Again."

"And I mentioned Cloud!"

The two looked at each other frowning and then began to laugh.

Wedge approached Tifa and took her by the waist.

"Wedge what you're doing!" said a surprised and red Tifa.

"I still think I should make up for the tears," he said and brought his lips to Tifa's lips.

"Where's Mr. Dolphin?" Suddenly the girl said, interrupting what might have been the kiss of the adults, who quickly separated with faces as red as tomatoes.

"Wow, I don't think I'll get it today," Wedge said, and Tifa covered her mouth with a closed fist to avoid laughing.

The three of them came down from the room and met the group in the living room. Priscilla was very impressed with Cloud and proposed to him right there, making the girls laugh.

Priscilla, already recovered, accompanied them to the beach to show them a way to enter the upper city where the parade would take place.

The girl gave Cloud a whistle with which she could call the dolphin and he would help him jump to a beam surrounded by high voltage cables, by that beam Cloud could enter the city if he was careful not to touch the cables.

The girls, including Tifa, begged him not to do something so dangerous, even suggested that Percy take over, which made Lydia look them frowned at.

"I'm sorry, girls," Percy excused himself, "but after the battle with the monster I'm exhausted."

With this, Cloud was in charge of the task.

"As soon as I entered the city, I will go down to open the entrance for you" Cloud promised them and went to the sea to carry out Priscilla's plan.

.

.

They had a good couple of hours and nothing.

"Lydia, I'm bored."

"Don't worry, Percy, I'm sure Cloud will show up soon... I guess."

"You think so, Lydia?"

"Which sounds better: I hope so or I think so."

"Fucking asshole, I wonder what the hell he's doing!" Barrett shouted angrily.

"I heard that there's a whole city up there, Cloud is sure to be "freeing" the girls from the bad guys in Shinra," said Yuffie, who along with Lydia were the only girls not drooling over Cloud.

The other girls criticized her but Biggs told them to shut up in anger.

"Lydia, I'm all right now, let me try," Percy asked.

"But it's too dangerous, Percy."

"Maybe for a human, but not for a cat."

"All right, but promise me you'll take care of yourself."

Percy kissed Lydia to reassure her and then transformed herself into a cat, then without the need for wings flew up to the beam and into the complex.

After a few minutes he came back and told them that he had already unlocked the door and that they could pass through.

The speed with which you performed your action was effective," Nanaki praised him and the whole group went to the door. They opened this one and went up to the city by a freight elevator.

"I wonder what happened to Cloud," Tifa said worried.

"As soon as I find him I'm going to hit him," Barrett threatened.

"Don't worry, Tifa, I'm sure he'll be fine," Wedge told her, although his face wasn't convinced.

"Looks like the parade is over," said Aerith.

"Where is Cloud?" groaned Jesse.

The group went to investigate and discovered that soon a huge ship would leave the port of the city for the Costa del Sol, in the boat would go the new president of Shinra, Rufus.

"We must take that ship," Wedge suggested.

"What about Cloud?" Jesse said.

"We can't leave him here," said Aerith.

"It's true, we have to find him," Tifa insisted.

"Calmly girls, knowing Cloud he will manage to get to the boat," Wedge calmly calmed them down and everyone nodded and headed for the boat.

Apparently Shinra's military leader, Heidegger, was taken by surprise by Rufus' visit, and with the parade and everything else, the military surveillance and control of the troops was not optimal, so the group had a good chance to get on board.

"What do we do now?" Biggs asked.

"We have to take some military suits and dress in them, otherwise they'll find out about us," Wedge said and everyone agreed.

"Where will we find the suits?" Yuffie asked.

"I smell that behind that box in the back we'll find Shinra's clothes," Percy pointed out.

The group found militia clothes in a group of boxes and everyone proceeded to dress in them.

"Two suits are lacking. What shall we do?" Tifa asked.

"Percy may go unnoticed as a cat, as for Nanaki, we'll make him look like a trained Shinra dog," Wedge reasoned with what the others nodded.

"Remember, we can't all be together," Wedge told them, "we'll spread out all over the ship and take care of tasks that the real soldiers won't want to do, so we'll get rid of them."

"What tasks would those be?" Percy asked.

"Well, clean the toilets, move the boxes, clean the deck, that sort of thing and as far away from the other soldiers as possible. We won't be able to eat at halftime either."

"Don't worry Percy." Lydia comforted him when she saw the sad face of the cat boy and at that very moment the boat started to move.

Some members of the group went up on the deck and saw the boat move away from Junon.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	9. Lydia's cry

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 9: Lydia's cry**

The boat was getting farther and farther away from Junon and everyone started to get nervous.

"Cloud hasn't shown up yet!" Tifa shouted once everyone gathered in the cellar.

"Take it easy, Tifa," said Percy calmly. "Cloud is here on the boat."

"Whaaat!" shouted several members of the group.

"My senses don't smell anything from our leader," said Nanaki.

"Remember that I am not a cat, but a cat boy, my senses are more developed than yours. Besides, I'm better looking than you!" Percy said with a pose between arrogant and flirtatious.

"Concentrate Percy, concentrate" Lydia asked him.

"Emmm... Yes, I'm better looking because I'm a feline and..."

"No, the other thing, Percy." Lydia insisted, a little impatient.

"Oh yes!... Cloud is on this ship... and as for that about our leader, Nanaki, I have something interesting to tell you," Percy said with a malicious gesture.

"What's going on?" Aerith asked him.

"Well, that the heartbeat of our beloved and overly drooling leader," Percy let them go, looking intently at Tifa, Jesse and Aerith, "indicates that he entered the ship no matter what our bitter and cruel fate was."

"What do you mean?" Jesse asked him frowningly.

"To be the only one with a technical degree, you are the dumbest."

"Percy!" Lydia yelled at him.

"I mean, Cloud doesn't know we're on this boat... Nooo, he's only interested in finding Sephiroth alone, and to the hell with us, that's what I mean," Percy said with a smug expression.

"That can't be true," Tifa cut him off.

"Suuure," Percy continued in a mocking face and voice, "you can ask Cloud when you see him, he'll put his angel face on and tell you it's not true. You can be good at lying, but you know, heartbeats never lie!"

"You must be the one who's lying," said Aerith frowning.

"I could lie to you, but I would never lie to Lydia. Well, Lydia, ask me."

"Is it true what you said about Cloud? He went on the boat alone without knowing we were here?"

"Yes, he entered the boat without knowing that we were here," Percy replied, staring at Lydia.

"We have to find Cloud," said Tifa.

"Wait a minute! Don't you remember what I told you about not being all together in one place," Wedge shouted. "If Cloud's on the boat, he'll talk to us one by one, so don't ruin it."

"Wedge is right," said Biggs, "it's best to ask him separately."

When Cloud found them one by one, they all let go of the sermon and Cloud had to lower his head every time.

"I couldn't hurry to you, I had to attend the parade." He excused himself every time.

"But you could have come down and opened the door for us later, couldn't you?" They always answered him.

"And the worst part is that I can't hit you, because it would attract attention," Barrett scold him when the ship's alarms sounded.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Wedge told us not to go to the other soldiers, but to meet at the back of the cellar in case of an emergency."

The group met at the site assigned by Wedge and wondered what was going on.

"I hear fighting noises and gunshots," Yuffie reported.

"What are we going to do, Cloud?" Tifa said.

"I think we should..."

"You shut up!" Percy sent him, "Tell me, Wedge. What do we do?"

"If we go in now, all we're going to do is get shot by the soldiers and whoever's attacking them," Wedge reasoned, "let's wait for the fight to stop. Tell me, did anyone enter the cellar at the bottom?"

"Yes, I did it," said Yuffie.

"Describe the place to us," Wedge asked.

"I see," said Wedge, after hearing Yuffie's report. "Well, when we enter for sure we will meet a monster since no soldier left the cellar, so half of the group will go to face him and the other half will go up the ramps of the cellar, so we will attack him not only from below, but also from above. Lydia, Aerith, you guys as always take care of the healings."

"Wedge, you're the best!" Percy shouted happily. "Well, I think it's time to elect a new leader... I vote for Wedge!"

"It's not the time for that," Jesse said grimly.

"On the contrary," Percy contradicted her with a flirtatious pose and denied with his index finger, "we will soon face a battle and it will be disastrous not to appoint a leader after the failure of Cloud, or do you want Cloud and Wedge to give contrary orders at the same time?"

"Cloud is not a failure," said Tifa.

"Yes, he is, we almost died of boredom like a horse in a fairground waiting for the oxygenated one in Junon," Yuffie replied, and she and Percy clashed palms together.

"Enough," Barrett cut them off in a serious tone, "what do you think, Lydia?"

"You're very reliable, Lydia," said Biggs, "it's up to you."

"Miss Lydia, I agree with Biggs' positive assessment," said Nanaki.

"Well, I'm sorry there's a vote right now, but Percy is right, it would be disastrous to have two leaders, let's vote."

"What!" Tifa said frowning.

"No, no voting!" Jesse followed him.

"This is unfair!" said Aerith.

"UNFAIR!" Percy hissed and stood in front of the three women with a ferocious gesture. "Was it fair to make Cloud a leader when Barrett didn't make a single mistake? Was it fair to have chosen Cloud just because he was good-looking?"

Percy was furious, his hair began to stand up, as did his tail which looked thick and as if it was made of thousands of black needles.

"Percy, I'm not interested in being the leader, I think Cloud should continue..."

"You shut up too!" Percy cut him off. "Voting!"

The girls except for Lydia and Yuffie voted for Cloud, but everyone else voted for Wedge, except Percy, who continued to insist on voting for Lydia even though she did not run for leadership.

"Well, I think it's time." Wedge said and all went into the cellar.

The group cautiously entered the cellar and saw the bodies of Shinra's soldiers, all of them in the center. Then a shadow approached, and it took tangible form... It was Sephiroth.

Wedge did not expect this, but knowing that he was the leader he thought calmly and with a wave of his hand ordered everyone to assume positions.

"Insects... insects that come to disturb me," Sephiroth said in a bored tone. "I have to find the promised land..."

Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling and began to levitate toward it, when he disappeared into it.

"Where did he go!" shouted Cloud.

"I think we have other problems to attend to now," said Biggs with his eyes open like plates and looking straight ahead. The monster Genova was in front of them.

The monster was powerful, but he did not face only four enemies at a time, but a whole mini army attacked him at once and without waiting for any turn, that, and the tactic of being surrounded both from below and above resulted in his defeat.

"I hear footsteps! There are more soldiers coming here," Percy shouted.

"Hurry up, let's hide in the back cellar!" Wedge ordered.

The group hid with just the right amount of time as several soldiers entered where the battle had previously taken place. The soldiers decided to search the whole place but the alarm on the boat told them that they were approaching the Costa del Sol and decided to go on deck.

"Let's wait for the boat to dock and sneak out." Wedge instructed them and they all nodded.

.

.

When the ship docked, the group snuck out and took off Shinra's uniforms. Rufus, Shinra's president, reprimanded Heidegger for his ineptitude and then left by helicopter.

"Oof, the room temperature is too hot, my muzzle is getting dehydrated," barked Nanaki, who started panting as he stuck out his tongue.

"Let's search the place for clues about Sephiroth, meet me here in three hours," Wedge said, "go in pairs."

"I'm going with Lydia!" Percy jumped happily. "You Wedge go with Tifa and you Cloud with Aerith, the rest of you settle in as you please."

Aerith neither cut nor lazy took Cloud's arm and took him by the hand, the rest of the group toured the Costa del Sol looking for clues.

After three hours all the members of the group returned to the pier.

"Can't we take a vacation in this city of golden sands?" Yuffie asked.

"We didn't come on a pleasure trip, Yuffie," said Biggs, who was arriving with Jesse at the time.

"Did you find anything?" Barrett asked.

"Nothing, maybe Aerith and Cloud have news," nodded Biggs.

"Here they come," said Lydia.

"Those two are the last two to arrive, I asked what they would be doing," Yuffie said with a strange laugh.

"I'm sure they were doing that, or maybe some other thing, or maybe that," Percy said as he stared at the sky and had a strange look on his face.

"Cloud is a gentleman, he would never do perverted things like that." Jesse criticized them.

"Sure, Jesse, sure," said Biggs in a jaded tone.

"I don't understand what you're criticizing us about, but what do you think we were talking about?" Yuffie said maliciously.

"It's true, it's true, the only one with a dirty mind here is you, Jesse," said Percy.

"No... Stop bothering me! Biggs tell them something," complained Jesse.

"Ask your Cloud to defend you," Biggs cut her off and left the place. "I can't believe it, the whole walk, Cloud this, Cloud that..."

"Don't listen to them, Jesse, you just encourage them," said Lydia.

"Did you find anything?" Barrett asked.

"We heard from someone who looks like Sephiroth, who is heading for Gold Saucer," Aerith replied.

"We also found Hojo," Cloud told them and Aerith rolled her eyes.

"Whaaat!" shouted the crowd, including Nanaki, who grunted threateningly.

"Where did you find him? Did you talk to him?" Lydia questioned them.

"We found him on the beach, but in the end we couldn't get any information out of him," Cloud told them.

"He didn't want to tell you anything?" Tifa asked.

"No, he only rambled when he answered us, in the end it was a waste of time," Cloud explained.

"And where is he now?" Tifa asked again.

"I asked Cloud to let him go," replied Aerith ahead of the blond man.

"Why did you do that!" Barrett shouted, but Aerith only looked sadly to the side.

"That's enough, Aerith's decision was the right one," Wedge told them.

"It's true," Lydia continued, "remember we're going after Sephiroth in a race against time, we can't afford to lose it to arrest Hojo and then see him pay for his crimes before a jury."

"Let's go," Yuffie said, "the map says that to get to Gold Saucer we must first pass through a place called Corel."

Barrett was so tense when he heard the name of the city that everyone noticed it.

"Barret?" Tifa asked him.

"Well, you heard Yuffie, if we want to get to Gold Saucer we have to go through Corel first, so let's go!" Barrett shouted at them with a look that made it clear he didn't want to be asked any questions.

The group made their way to the northwestern mountains and arrived at a railway line which they followed.

"Look, there's an old coal locomotive over there," Lydia told them.

"It's got a couple of wagons, do you think we can get it started?" Percy asked.

"These old machines are easy to operate," Barrett said, "the problem is the brakes, maybe they're already worn."

"What do we do Wedge?" Biggs asked.

"Lydia is right, we're in a race against time, but I don't think we should take the train, so we'll go on foot," Wedge decided.

"Why not? It would take us forever to walk," Yuffie asked.

"Look at the map," Wedge told them, "Corel is just finishing the tracks, if something bad happens we will put the people who live there in danger. Remember, our goal is to protect people."

Everyone in the group agreed and marched along the train tracks, after a while they heard some chicks chirping.

"They look like chicks," said Cloud.

"Where I come from they are called food," said Percy.

"How can you say that, poor chicks! Aerith reproached him.

"Aerith," Lydia calmly reassured her, "remembers Percy talking about his time when he was nothing more and nothing less than a domestic cat.

"It's true! do not judge me by human patterns, for in nature there are no wicked, it is all about survival. Unlike you humans who eat each other to satisfy your wickedness, do you not remember what Shinra did with Sector 7 in Midgar?" Percy criticized her, making Aerith shut up.

"Easy... calm down." Was trying to soothe the mood Lydia.

"I want to see the chicks," said Tifa and stepped forward to the source of the sound.

"How cute!" Tifa said as she climbed up a slope and discovered the nest with the chicks.

"Listen to the tweet!" said happy Aerith.

"Delicious," said Percy, and the same thing happened as with the strong condor.

"Hey, this time you hit me hard! Percy reproached Jesse.

"Take it easy Percy, when we get to Gold Saucer, I'll buy you chicken wings," promised Lydia and Percy was happy.

"With a lot of spice Lydia, I want to drool at ease with the spice, I want my tongue to turn into laaava," said the cat boy.

"Look, underneath the nest there are Materia!" Yuffie shouted excitedly. "Let's take the Materias!"

"NOOO!" shouted the other four girls.

"It's true, we can't do such a thing or we would destroy the physical integrity of the nest," said Nanaki, but his eyes and muzzle betrayed him as he looked at the chicks with eyes open like plates and drooled a lot.

"Let's go, Nanaki," Percy said, taking him away from the place, but then the dog began to move nervously and cry because he didn't taste the chicks.

"I understand you, Nanaki, believe me," reassured Percy, who had tears in his eyes and wet his lips with his tongue.

"I don't understand why women are interested in this kind of corny stuff!" Yuffie complained angrily about not taking the Materia.

The men in the group agreed with Yuffie, but Wedge looked at the nest and then stroked the chicks.

"Let's go, I'm going to fight not only for the people, but also for all the living creatures on the planet, that's why I joined Avalanche at first," Wedge said and started marching along the train tracks looking great.

"A man among men, eh, Lydia?" Percy purred proudly of his friend.

.

.

The group arrived at Corel, which seemed more like a camp full of dirty, hungry people than a village.

The children ran to the group for alms, but when they saw Cloud's Mako eyes and clothing, they ran back in fear. Several men cut them off and seemed to be on their way to Cloud to scold him for coming in in that Shinra outfit, but instead they went to Barrett's place and reprimanded him for his presence there.

Barrett asked the group not to intervene and decided to take the criticism, they even spat on him and punched him in the face.

"Barrett..." Wedge told him, but it seems that Barrett did not want to talk and they continued their march towards Gold Saucer, which was just a stone's throw from Corel, or at least the cable car to the floating city.

Tifa insisted again and at the end Barrett told them his sad, or rather horrible, story of how Shinra murdered most of the members of his village, men who made their living from coal. Shinra thought it best to end the mako energy competition and in the end they invented a story in which Barrett was to blame for the disaster.

All those present looked at the giant with a serious gesture or had tears in their eyes or even turned their faces.

"Why didn't you tell the people of Corel what you told us?" Wedge asked him with a dry mouth.

"Because in a way it is my fault, I convinced my best friend, the leader of the people to allow Shinra to enter the village, they offered us prosperity and we were always poor... Because of me I lost my wife, my friend, but Marlene, his daughter... at least I was able to rescue her and take her with me to Midgar."

Lydia wept, unable to believe how evil men could be, and it was she who was insulted for being Gothic, when real demons traveled the world in masks of respectable men.

"Lydia..." Percy told her and then hugged her to take the pain away from her heart or at least mitigate it.

The group entered the cable car and silently climbed up to Gold Saucer.

.

.

Gold Saucer, the floating city, was a huge, no, giant field of attractions, where there were countless events to entertain visitors with the necessary resources to pay for them. Luxury and glamour were omnipresent everywhere.

In both Midgar and Junon, there were stark contrasts between the lower city where the poor lived and the upper city where the wealthier people lived, but here at Gold Saucer the difference was much more abysmal. Down at Corel the situation was so bad that it made the lower cities of Midgar and Junon look like residential areas, and here at Gold Saucer, everything seemed so glamorous.

Lydia couldn't understand such a difference, it seemed so unreal, so abstract, so cruel.

"What are we doing?" Lydia muttered. "Are we fighting to save the planet? Are we fighting to save this?"

"Lydia..." Wedge approached her. "I know that the world is full of blood and pain, but there are also good people like Marlene, Priscilla and the others, we fight to protect them, we may not like the world they will grow up in, but it is the only world they and the others have to live in, that is why I am willing to give my life to protect the planet."

"You're right Wedge, sorry, it turns out I haven't felt so vulnerable since I agreed to marry Beetlejuice to save my parents... but then they, when the ghost came back, didn't doubt that I would marry overnight to make money... Oh Percy!" Lydia bent down and held her head as she cried and Percy was quick to embrace her.

"That's all over now, Lydia! You don't have to worry anymore! I will always be by your side to support and love you!" Percy said tenderly and then kissed her, giving her all his love.

Lydia opened her eyes wide with the kiss and then closed them correspondingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm a fool," said Percy after the kiss was over.

"No, you are not, only a fool would not worry about the person he loves, only a fool would not suffer if the person he loves was suffering, only a fool would not kiss the person he loves to comfort her." Lydia thanked him with such a beautiful smile, that she cleared up the doubts of the group if they had any, to protect the planet.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	10. Wedge versus the giant

_The song that Wedge sings is the one that was used as the opening song of the television series: Highlander._

 **LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 10: Wedge versus the giant**

The group entered the complex and were talking about which way to go and there was so much ground to cover, but Barrett was still struggling after passing through Corel.

"Barrett, let's go play in the games, let's have fun," said Aerith and everyone looked at her incredulously.

"Hey Aerith, what do you think you're doing?" whispered Tifa as she pushed her away from the giant.

"He's just so depressed," said Aerith.

"And that's how you want to cheer him up!" Tifa said incredulously.

"Of course, the best thing for these cases is to act as if nothing had happened," said Aerith, sure of herself.

"Are you sure this is how it works?" Tifa doubted.

"Of course, trust me," Aerith said resolutely and again went to Barrett's and suggested that he go have fun.

As expected, the giant became furious and cursed himself out of the place.

"Wow, the best thing to do is to leave Barrett alone," Wedge sighed, "the rest of you go in pairs and look around the place."

"I'll go with Cloud," Tifa said hastily, so that Percy wouldn't go ahead and decide who the blond would go with as he did last time.

"Don't even think you won the game," Percy thought, looking at the woman maliciously.

"I think you, Aerith and Jesse have spent a lot of time with Cloud already," Percy said arrogantly. "I think you should give Yuffie a little chance since she's the newest member of the group."

"What! I don't like the blond guy," Yuffie tried to say, but Percy pushed her hard with his tail towards Cloud.

Yuffie had to hug Cloud in order not to fall, who also hugged the ninja so that she wouldn't fall to the ground.

"See, if they look good, both of them hugging each other, as if they were lovers running away from the law because of the age difference" smiled Percy maliciously and Tifa frowned and was about to answer him but the cat boy interrupted him.

"Ch, ch, ch, no matter how attractive you are, Tifa, you won't be able to compete against Yuffie's youth. Never!"

"What did you say!"

"Wow, it seems that the breasty lady can no longer hear well, well that happens with age... It is, the cycle of life: you are born, you grow, you age..."

Percy pretended to be scared and took Lydia's hand and ran to one of the entrance slides.

"Oh no! Don't even think about running away from this Percy!" Tifa shouted and ran after the cat boy.

"I'd better go after those two fools, I just hope Lydia will control the situation until I gets there," said Wedge sighing and went after Tifa.

Jesse and Biggs looked at each other frowning.

"What are you looking at?" Biggs asked.

"Me? Not too much," said Jesse, looking down on Biggs from top to bottom.

"Would Miss Aerith allow me to escort you through this architectural wonder?" Nanaki asked him.

"Of course, sir," Aerith agreed, seeing that Cloud didn't seem interested in going with anyone.

"Well," said Cloud when Jesse and Biggs, who were the last people on the scene, paired up and went out on one of the slides, "I think we were just left..."

"Don't you dare do anything perverted to me or I'll have you locked up in jail," Yuffie said as she punched Cloud in the crotch with a brutal punch that made him throw up hard.

"Oh please! How delicate! Come on, let's go!" Yuffie ordered him, and grabbing Cloud by the nose, she threw him down one of the slides and then the ninja followed him.

.

.

In another part of the park, Lydia and Wedge were able to calm the situation and prevent things from getting any bigger.

"Where are we going now?" Tifa asked, who was still upset.

"I don't know, with all this mess I couldn't share the land with the others," Wedge said.

"Let's go to the cable car, from there we can see all of Gold Saucer," Percy suggested.

"Well, me and Lydia will go in one booth and you in another," said Tifa who already knew where the thing was going with Percy's suggestion.

Lydia looked at Tifa in fear, apparently she hadn't fully recovered yet.

"Well," Tifsa sighed, "you go in one booth, Wedge and I will go in another."

Wedge and Tifa entered their cabin and the tour began.

Tifa was nervous about being alone with Wedge, and started playing with her fingers.

"What's wrong with me? When I'm with Wedge I get nervous, but when I'm with Cloud I get the same thing, hell, my head's all messed up!", Tifa thought, shaking her head without realizing it.

"Tifa, is something wrong with you?"

What?...? No! Nothing's wrong with me," Tifa startled as she moved her hands in front of her.

"Were you thinking about Cloud?" Wedge told her, but not in an angry way, but rather with a calm tone and a look wise and calm.

Tifa looked down on the floor in response.

"I wonder if I hurt Wedge?" thought Tifa and looked up. Wedge looked out the window with a small smile on his lips even though he had a sad look on his face.

"You know," Wedge started talking, "I don't think it was a good idea to leave those two alone in the cabin, we should have put a chaperone on them."

"You're right, sometimes I'm surprised at the maturity of those two. Lydia didn't experience the same horror that Barrett or I experienced, but at least my parents weren't so cruel."

"It's true, Tifa, after the incident they went to my old apartment in Midgar and spent some time with me. Lydia was devastated, but fortunately she was counting on Percy."

"How did you react when you saw that Percy was a cat boy?"

"You can imagine, Tifa, I fell on my back!... Yeah, I hope those two aren't doing anything weird back there."

"Don't worry," said a relaxed Tifa, "I'd be more worried if they were on a huge Ferris wheel."

"Did you ever ride a Ferris wheel before?"

"Never Wedge, never had the chance."

"I don't believe it! As pretty as you are, I'm sure the boys were lined up behind you."

"Well, I was kind of popular when I was a kid in my hometown... But after Sephiroth, I focused on learning martial arts. Did you know I won the bar on a combat bet?"

"What, really!"

"Of course! How do you think a girl would put neon signs with cowgirls in front of it and call the establishment "The Seventh Heaven"?"

"And why didn't you change the front and the name?"

"You know how bad the economic situation is to make changes to the facade. Besides, the bar already had its regular clientele and was afraid of losing it."

"I see... Well, when this is all over, I promise to take you to the biggest Ferris wheel there is."

"And you got on a Ferris wheel?" Tifa asked him to get out of the way.

"No, you may think I'm cheesy, but I've always wanted to go upstairs with someone special... But I never met that someone, at least not until I saw you... Seeing you for the first time, it was as if my brain was forcing my sight to turn off all peripheral vision to concentrate only on you..."

"Wedge, please don't... I... Cloud..."

"I know... I know..."

The cabin arrived at its destination and the two adults waited for the back cabin to arrive.

"What a frustration," Lydia complained, "we couldn't see anything, no sign of Sephiroth."

"It was a waste of time," Percy also complained. "Damn Sephiroth, where have you gone!"

Tifa looked at the boys in surprise, those two were the mature ones.

The four of them returned to the square and Wedge was frustrated because he didn't know where to go.

"If you don't know where to go, sir, come here, and I'll tell you the luck that fate has prepared for you," a robot from the park suddenly told them, it looked like a cat with a crown wearing a megaphone, and it was on a kind of robot that looked like a very big cat-golem.

"Cait Sith, that's the name, yes sir, come and I'll show you your fortune," said the robot who approached the group in the cat-golem.

"How nice Lydia!" Percy exclaimed and happily jumped up to the robots.

"What a curious creature you are! Cait Sith said "Do you want me to tell you your luck in love?"

"I don't need any of that," said Percy, stretching his tail around Lydia's waist and drawing her to him.

"Lydia and I clarified our feelings a long time ago," Percy said as he looked at Tifa and Wedge with serious expression and wide eyes that were as big and beautiful as dark gems.

"We decided that we would not lie to ourselves and we agreed to be together forever, in a mature way and no matter what," Percy concluded without taking his eyes off the two adults.

"Why don't you tell my cousin and his lady their fortune? Lydia said radiantly as she hugged Percy.

"What a good idea, miss!" Cait Sith said and went over to the blushing adults who looked at each other.

"Just push the robot's leg down like a slot machine and your luck will come out," explained Cait.

Wedge looked sidelong at Tifa, and as she did not seem to object, he pulled the robot's leg and then a strip of paper came out.

"But there's nothing here," Wedge said and showed the robot a blank strip of paper.

"That can't be it, try again!" Cait insisted but the result was the same over and over again.

"Robot idiot!" Percy shouted at the same time he kicked him.

"Maybe it's broken," said Lydia.

"That's impossible, I'm a state-of-the-art luck predictor, I can't be broken. I know! Maybe fate has not yet been decided with you two... This is very mysterious, I will have to accompany you to find out what luck has in store for you."

They all looked at Cait strangely and explained that they were on a mission, that they would soon be leaving the place, but the robot insisted on accompanying them.

"We can't reason with a machine, so we'll have to accept it as part of the group," Wedge yielded, and Cait was very happy.

.

.

Nanaki wasn't happy about having two other cats in the group, but in the end he accepted Wedge's reasoning as much as the others.

"Wedge, we heard nothing from Sephiroth, but we heard from a man with one arm replaced by a gun that is causing trouble in the Gold Saucer arena," Aerith and the entire group reported, exchanging concerned looks as the only missing member was Barrett.

"We'd better get Barrett before he gets into real trouble," Wedge said and everyone headed for the fighting arena.

When they arrived at the place they saw that everything was destroyed.

"These are the same kind of bullets that Barrett uses," Cloud showed them in a low tone.

"Your friend made all this mess?" Cait asked as several soldiers from the park entered and surrounded the others.

The soldiers ordered them to raise their hands and Wedge looked up and ordered the group to listen. Percy wanted to fight the men but Lydia reassured him and asked him to listen to Wedge.

"I heard a man with a one-armed arm causing trouble in my establishment," said a man approaching the site.

The guy had the most muscular build that any of the group had ever seen in their lives, tall, dressed in the clothes of a wrestler, monstrous veins furrowed the surface of each of their deformed muscles, especially the neck.

"We didn't do anything, as soon as we got there, if you don't believe us, check us out and you'll see that none of us have a gun with the caliber to have made these gun marks," Wedge said calmly and authoritatively.

"Shut up!" Witnesses indicate that you walked in with a man with a gun arm. "I Dio, the owner of Gold Saucer, and one fifth of this continent, sentence you to spend the rest of your days in the desert prison."

"Wait a minute!" Percy shouted to Dio. "Must have been another man with a gun arm. How about the super agent cobra!"

"That's a cannon-arm and a fictional character. Get them!"

Dio's soldiers attacked the group but were defeated, however, Dio released each and every one of his monsters, fortunately, he did not send them all at the same time but sent them to fight one by one, so they were defeated easily.

What kind of tactics do these guys use? Well never mind, get them and take them to the desert prison! Dio ordered some kind of robots that went to the group.

Most of the group were intimidated by the robots coming closer and closer.

"What's wrong with all of you? Attack!" Lydia shouted in amazement at the attitude of her friends.

"We have defeated very powerful monsters before and now, can't you beat simple robots?" Percy said that just like Lydia, was surprised at the group's behavior.

"Wedge! What's the matter with you? You act like the character in a game whose actions are already predetermined. If you're not going to react for yourself, AT LEAST REACT FOR TIFA!" Lydia screamed furiously.

It was as if Wedge's eyes were opening, looking at his hand he clenched it into a fist and threw himself forward into combat.

Wedge's sword-gun drew bows that hit the robots at a frantic and deadly rate. The shields broke, the wires twisted sending sparks everywhere and the circuits exploded in a multitude of loud noises.

At the end, on a huge pile of robotic junk that kept throwing huge electric shocks, Wedge stood up with his jacket fluttering in the wind and his weapon held tightly in his right hand.

"Here we are, born to be kings, we are the princes of the universe..." He began to sing, at the same time as the electric shocks became much stronger.

"Is that Wedge!?" Biggs said with his mouth open and his eyes open like plates.

"I... I went too far with the training!" Percy shouted, waving her hands nervously.

"As in the legends of my people!" Yuffie waved. "Cat people can turn men into tigers!"

"I just... I just told him to think of you Tifa and he reacted... And he started attacking." Lydia pointed out to Tifa.

"IS THE POWER OF WEDGE LOVE TOWARDS TIFA!" Percy shouted to the four winds to be heard by Tifa.

Dio took off his wrestling belt and tore his shirt with his hands as he roared.

"Bastard," Dio said to Wedge, with a look that would make any man run in the opposite direction.

"That's the best compliment anyone could give me," Wedge replied with a fierce smile.

Dio started running to Wedge, but he had already jumped on the wrestler. It was as if two unstoppable objects collided and then both rolled across the floor intertwined, exchanging blows with tense muscles.

The two contenders stood up and lashed out at each other. Blows came and went with the power to knock down an ox, but the two men stood, crushing each other's flesh and blowing each other's blood in all directions.

Dio grabbed Wedge by the hip with the goal of breaking his back. Everyone could see Dio's impossible back muscles tighten so tightly that they seemed to acquire the solidity of steel, while listening to Wedge's vertebrae creak loudly.

Wedge put his fingers together and extended them as if they were swimming, and then buried them tightly in Dio's armpits, freeing himself in this way. The wrestler looked at Wedge furiously, but he gave him a hard header that squirted a stream of blood over Wedge's face. Then there was another header against Dio, and another one, and another one, and then some others.

Dio punched Wedge's stomach hard, causing him to vomit blood and bend his knees. The wrestler put his fists together to finish off his opponent, but Wedge sent a punch directly into his crotch, followed by two more, making Dio the one to bend his back, a moment that was used by Wedge to plant a brutal knee to his mouth that made Dio spit out most of his teeth.

Dio almost fell backwards but held on to his opponent's clothing and gave him an elbow that would surely make Wedge's future sons feel it, however, Wedge grabbed the wrestler's collar and pulled him into his left ear and bit it off at the root.

The wrestler screamed wildly in pain and covered his ear and tried to see his opponent, but Wedge was already charging at him and holding him by the thighs, then had Dio sit with both legs around his shoulder and then, Wedge turned his body like an athlete throwing a hammer and threw his opponent through a wide glass that protected the electricity meters.

Many sparks went off and Dio's body began to convulse from the electric shocks.

"You didn't expect to face this beast, did you, Dio?" Wedge grunted, adrenaline-ridden.

"Wedge, you're the god of fighting!" Percy exclaimed impressed and ran to his friend, who looked pitiful.

They had to spend several healing potions on Wedge which was made of ground beef, but in the end they made it like new.

"I'm afraid we can't do anything about your clothes, Wedge" lamented Lydia, as all of Wedge's clothes were soaked with the blood of both sides.

"No way," Wedge resigned himself and took off all the clothes that covered his torso, revealing an athletic and muscular body that nothing would have to envy Cloud's, but quite the contrary, all thanks to Percy's training and his desire to please Tifa.

"Oh, Mom, this guy is so hot," Yuffie told Tifsa. "With the opportunities you had and didn't do anything, I'd have already fuc..."

Tifa looked at Yuffie in surprise at the ninja's lewd word.

"What the hell, how can she talk like that, she's still a child," she thought alarmed.

"I connected to the park's mainframe computer and apparently his friend Barrett went to the desert prison," Cait Sith told them.

"How will we get there?" Aerith asked.

"We can take Dio's helicopter and head to that place." Cait suggested.

"And who's going to fly the helicopter?" Cloud asked.

"I have a programming for piloting helicopters," said Cait Sith and everyone looked at each other nervously.

"What do we do Wedge?" Jesse asked.

"There is no alternative, let's take the helicopter," he ordered and everyone went to the helipad.

Cait was not lying because he was able to pilot the machine without any problem and in the end he arrived at the desert prison.

"Well, the good news is that we're here," Cait told them.

"And what would be the adverse news?" Nanaki asked.

"We're out of fuel, so get ready for an emergency landing," the robot released and everyone turned blue from the news.

The helicopter flew erratically but was eventually able to land, although the engine and propeller rotor broke down.

"Lydia, are you okay?" Percy asked her.

"Yes, I am, thank you Percy," Lydia calmed him down and, helped by the cat boy, got out of the helicopter and saw the surroundings of the desert prison.

"Now I see why they call it the desert prison," said Biggs and everyone saw that an endless desert of infernal sands stretched across the horizon, and they were in the middle.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	11. The cry of the giant

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 11: The cry of the giant**

The desert prison was a horrible place, there were neither guards nor walls, since a deadly desert was in charge of eliminating whoever was crazy enough to try to cross it, and if hunger or dehydration did not do the work, the monsters that swarmed the place would account for the foolish.

"What a horrible place," said Aerith apprehensive.

"This is hell," whispered Jesse as she approached Biggs and held his arm.

"Don't walk away," Biggs warned Jesse as he watched the prisoners watching behind the piles of scrap metal scattered all over the place.

Some of the prisoners were approaching where the group was and they knew that the only thing stopping them was that they were in front of a large and compact group.

"All of you, surround Lydia and protect her," Wedge ordered calmly and without taking his eyes off the prisoners.

Many of the prisoners pointed at the women and began to mumble to each other.

"We'd better move on," Yuffie told them, and when she turned around she came face to face with a madman who smiled at her in a stupid way.

"kyaaaa!" shouted the girl and took refuge behind Cait.

"Calm down Yuffie, come on, we'd better get moving." the robot calmed her down.

"Wait a minute," said Wedge and pulled his pants up to check his knee.

"Damn, I have about three teeth embedded in my knee," Wedge complained and pulled these out later.

The madman lunged at the teeth and tried to embed them in his toothless mouth.

Nanaki, frightened, began to howl pitifully.

"Let no one part," said Cloud, and the group began to move forward in a compact grouping.

The group arrived in what appeared to be a somewhat safer area, at least the ragged-looking prisoners and several of the madmen stopped following them.

"God, that was horrible," cried Tifa.

"Don't worry, Lydia, we're safe now," Percy assured her, looking around nervously.

"Thank you Percy, thank you guys for protecting me," Lydia thanked them, who was no longer shaking.

As they continued walking, they approached a rolling house that looked so bad that the offensive graffiti on its surface was the only thing that gave it a touch of color and life.

"What will those men do at the entrance? They look like guards," said Aerith nervously as she watched as several prisoners began to pile up and make obscene gestures at her.

"The "boss" of the prison is surely there," Wedge pointed out as he approached his cousin to protect her, as did Percy.

"Let's go in and talk to the boss, maybe he'll tell us something about Barrett," Biggs suggested, protecting Jesse with his left arm as he turned his face as he saw several men lewdly sticking their tongues out.

"Let's get the fuck in." Yuffie who was glued to Cloud the same as Tifa.

The group approached the mobile home, but the "guards" cut them off. Only one of us could meet the boss.

"Let me in," said Cait, "I'm a robot after all."

"No," said Wedge, "that way we wouldn't be respected. You protect Lydia and Yuffie."

"We'll protect them too," said the other girls, taking courage.

Wedge went in alone to meet the chief and he told him clues about Barrett, he also told him that he was just the "interim chief", that the real chief was in another section of the prison, that he was such a dangerous man that no one went near him.

When Wedge left, he told everyone about his conversation with the man.

"Let's go and see Barrett," - said nervous Tifa as several men began to approach the group and point at the girls, especially her.

The group had to cross the dangerous area of the prison and Wedge had to fire several shots to keep the prisoners away.

"Excuse me guys," Yuffie lamented when they got to where Barrett was supposed to be, "I'm supposed to be a ninja, but you had to protect me like Lydia."

"Don't worry, Yuffie," Jesse consoled her, "you and Lydia are still young and it was our duty to protect you."

"We'd better go in the house," said Aerith nervously, looking at the front of the wrecked and abandoned dwelling.

Nanaki offered himself, and Percy nodded, turning back into a panther.

The abandoned house had a sorry appearance inside, with all the broken furniture scattered around, and even a good part of the roof was missing.

At the back of the room, leaning against the wall and with his back to the group, was Barrett.

"Barret?" Wedge said, and the giant turned to see him.

"Wedge, what the hell are you doing here!"

"I should be the one asking that question," answered Wedge.

"Stupid, get out of here!"

"Barrett, we've all come for you," said Tifa.

"Barret, please" Jesse begged him.

The giant shouted as he discharged his weapon against the group, or rather behind the group, into a closet.

The closet was opened and a man came out of it with a knife that fell inert on the floor.

"Barret..." Cloud said.

"This place is dangerous, you shouldn't have come here," the giant scolded them.

"Is that your friend? He looks dangerous," Cait told Lydia, who stepped forward to talk to the man.

"Barret, what is this place?" Lydia asked him.

"This place... It was my friend Dyne's house, where he, his wife and little daughter Marlene lived."

"You mean this place, the desert prison, was Corel?" Lydia muttered as she covered her mouth with her hands because of the impression.

"Yes, after Shinra razed the village, she forced all the survivors to move to that refugee camp. Then this Dio came and expropriated the land and turned it into his private prison. The people wanted to claim him but he ordered to kill everyone who claimed him. We wanted to protest but in the end nobody in the world cared!"

"I came down here to see once again my hometown, or at least how little of it I have left. I stole one of those robots that grab people and throw them away in this place, it wasn't hard, those things are easy to program."

"Barrett, you weren't the one who shot in the Gold Saucer arena, were you?" Biggs asked him.

"What? I did no such thing!"

"Someone shot at Gold Saucer, they say he was a huge man with a gun arm," Cloud told him.

"Maybe it's that "Boss" that no one comes near," Wedge reasoned.

"Mr. Barrett," said Cait. "Where's the robot you came in on?"

"I'm sorry, but I left it abandoned and when I came back to see it, the locals had burned it."

"That means we're stuck here," said Aerith scared and Tifa went to hug her.

"As far as I can see," Wedge said, "we have no choice but to go to that famous boss."

"Why do you say that, Wedge?" Lydia questioned him.

"The other boss I spoke to at the RV told me that the real boss was a man with a one-armed arm. If he's the same guy who was at Gold Saucer, it means he has the means to get out of this hellhole."

"Then let's go," said Jesse, who was anxious to get out of the place.

The group left for the direction Wedge was told to go to to find the boss with the gun arm. Barrett was introduced to Cait Sith, and was very surprised when Percy, again in the form of a cat boy, told him how Wedge saved his friends from the robots and then defeated Dio, all to protect Tifa.

"It seems incredible that the chubby guy Wedge has done something like that, but of course, now that he is no longer chubby, and now that I think about it, when I met him he was thin, I wonder how he got so fat since he joined Avalanche, and most importantly, how did he get thinner?" Barrett said when he saw Wedge's naked, athletic torso, and Percy smothered a laugh.

.

.

The group arrived at a part where there were several remains of machinery scattered all over the place, apparently the site was deserted.

When the group approached the ruins of a building on the edge of an abyss, they were met by a series of warning shots to stop them from leaving.

A huge man holding a bottle of whiskey approached the group and had a gun arm.

"Dyne, it's you! I thought you were dead!" Barrett shouted.

"That voice... It's been a long time since I've heard that voice..."

"Dyne, it's me Barrett..."

"Barret, yes, I remember you... My wife asked me not to kill you... not to kill you for bringing Shinra's people... for burning the village... for killing Marlene..."

"Dyne, what are you talking about? You're hallucinating... plus Marlene's alive."

"Marlene... is alive... she's alive..."

"Yes, Dyne, let's go to Midgar together and see Marlene."

"I see, then I'll have to kill you, Barrett."

"What are you talking about, Dyne!"

"Don't you see, Marlene, I must take her to her mother, I must take her to her."

"Dyne, what do you say? You're insane, react!"

"You and me, Barrett, let's fight for Marlene."

"All right, Dyne, let's get started."

"Barret, what the hell!" shouted Wedge.

"Wedge, guys, let's keep out of this, this is between me and Dyne," said Barrett and headed out to face Dyne.

"Wedge," Lydia complained. "What are you doing? You must stop this madness, it is obvious that the man is not in his right mind at the moment."

"But Barrett asked us to leave this in his hands," said Wedge.

"He's our friend! We must help him!" Lydia and the other girls (except Yuffie) and Percy nodded.

"We can't go in there, it's a man's business," said Biggs.

"How ridiculous! How can you act so "macho" at this very moment?" Lydia asked indignantly.

"Lydia, please leave them alone," said Yuffie trying to calm her down.

"Men!" Lydia muttered angrily and shook her head.

Dyne, who had drunk a lot and was hallucinating, was not a great challenge for Barrett and was defeated.

"That's enough, Dyne, come back to me."

"Barret?" said Dyne, who had apparently come to his senses.

"Yes, it's me, my friend, please come back to Midgar with me, let's see Marlene together."

"Marlene... no, I can't, there's so much blood on my hands," cried Dyne as he stood up and approached the edge of the abyss. Lydia had a bad feeling about this.

"Take it, Barrett, it was my wife's necklace, give it to Marlene. I can't do it anymore."

"What do you say, Dyne! Don't do anything stupid, get off the cliff!"

"Listen, Barrett, even if I did come back, Marlene sees you as her father, I can't do anything anymore, I have nothing to do in this world, goodbye Barrett..."

"Dyne!"

"Percy, hurry up!" Lydia shouted, and Percy turned into a cat and flew into the abyss.

After a tense moment, Percy came out of the abyss, holding Dyne, who was apparently unconscious.

.

.

"...I'm not dead?" Dyne muttered as she regained consciousness some time later.

"Not my brother, you're not dead," Barrett said with tears in his eyes.

"Why, why am I not dead! You should have let me die!" The man suddenly shouted at him.

The snap of a slap cut the scene. Lydia was standing in front of the man, apparently slapping him.

"Are you in such a hurry to die? Or you just want to run away and bury your head in the sand," said Lydia and the whole group got nervous.

"I... I saw all my people die."

"All those present saw their loved ones die, but they do not want to die because of this. I saw a lot of people die once, on a remote island, I even saw Percy die," said Lydia and everyone looked at the cat boy strangely.

"I couldn't do anything... nothing to save them."

"I couldn't do anything to save those people either. If I had been stronger, if I had summoned just in time, I would surely have saved them. Parents who would have recovered their children, children who would not have been orphaned, people who would not have lost their boyfriends and lovers. But I was slow and all those lives were lost, but I don't want to die because of that," said Lydia.

"But I killed so many people... I wish I was dead."

"I also once said that I'd rather be dead, but I had Percy, but if it hadn't been for him I would have killed myself by collapsing on the river in my town" Lydia cut him off and everyone looked at her friend in surprise.

"I would have died too if it wasn't for Lydia, so please, Mr. Dyne, don't say you'd rather die, you have Marlene," Percy intervened.

"But Marlene, all these years, I'm sure she wouldn't recognize me as her father anymore."

"Sure Marlene, as kind as she is, will be very happy to have two parents who will always care about her and give her all the love in the world."

"But, and the people I killed."

"Dyne, you killed many people, so help us save the planet to redeem you from Marlene and your wife," suggested Lydia.

"Will I thus be able to redeem my sins?"

"No, you will only redeem yourself before your family for protecting the planet Marlene lives on. If you want to redeem yourself and most importantly, forgive yourself, you must use your arm-arm and stop the villains who want to destroy everyone in the world. It is easy to kill by excusing yourself in justice, but you must never kill again, you will bring all evildoers to justice, without killing again, only then will you obtain forgiveness of your heart."

"Do you think I'll make it?"

"Your wife, Marlene and I know that," said Lydia as she looked away from the man and saw the spirit of Dyne's wife smiling at her husband.

"Your wife, I can see her, she just wants you to be happy and take care of Marlene along with Barrett," she revealed, and Dyne and the others looked at Lydia in surprise.

"She gave me a message to you: Don't let yourself be changed by resentment," Lydia told him, and then she gave Dyne a chaste kiss on the lips.

Dyne started to cry as she hugged Lydia's feet. The other members of the group cried including the men and saw Lydia who was the smallest of the group in a different way, now she seemed so tall and invincible, but at the same time so wise and gentle, like a goddess.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	12. The black knights

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 12: The black knights**

"Dyne, how did you get to go to Gold Saucer?" Barrett asked him once Dyne had recovered.

"I once captured one of those robots that throw people into this hellhole and reprogrammed it to come and go from Gold Saucer."

"That's bad, we're a lot, we'd need a lot of those things," Barrett complained.

"I don't have any more robots, but I have a buggy."

"That won't do us any good either, there are thirteen of us including you," Barrett pointed out to him by hitting the wall.

"I have a bulldozer, it's slow, but if we hook it to the trailer we can get out of here."

"Perfect. Hey, Dyne's got a plan to get us out of here!"

The group headed for the bulldozer and then hooked it to the trailer, which was cut in half horizontally and could carry everyone in the group.

When they tried to cross the desert, several worm-like monsters coming out of the ground tried to turn and stop the group, but both the bulldozer and the trailer were heavy and moving steadily.

"We did it! We did it!" Cait shouted happily.

"Now where to go, Barrett?" Dyne asked.

"Ask Wedge that, he's the leader."

"The leader? He looks a little young to be a leader, but all right. Tell me where Wedge."

"The best thing to do is to go to Gongaga, the nearest place to refuel."

"Gongaga? I thought the place was uninhabited," Lydia said, "it was all over the news, the village's mako reactor exploded and the shock wave swept the whole place for miles around."

"Yes," Wedge said, "but Shinra covered the news as usual, I heard that the villagers are still living in the ruined city, but they will surely have fuel for the bulldozer."

"Then let's go to that place," said Cait, and Dyne drove the bulldozer to Gongaga.

.

.

The friends approached the village, but first they had to go through the destroyed reactor, where they met the Turks.

"I can't believe this, Lydia," complained Percy exasperatedly, "these guys are really annoying, they look like that rocket pokemon team, they lose every time, but they keep coming back for more."

The enemies were upset with Percy's comparison, but as the cat boy said, they were eventually defeated and fled the scene.

"Well, at least they serve as sparrings that don't charge," said Yuffie and everyone laughed.

Upon arriving in Gongaga, they were able to see that the villagers were in a low mood and living as well as they could under the circumstances.

"All right," Wedge said, "get out of the trailer and find out where we can get some fuel."

The whole group asked around and found the precious fuel, but Aerith and Cloud did not return.

"I wonder where those two are?" Tifa asked between worried and jealous.

"I see the couple approaching our location," Nanaki told them.

Tifa wanted to scold them for taking so long, but she saw that something bad was happening.

"What's going on, Aerith?" Lydia asked him.

"It turns out that this is the town where Zack's parents, my old boyfriend, live. I met them, they asked me about their son, and... I got out of control, ran away from the place."

Tifa seemed shocked by the news and everyone noticed, but when asked if she knew the man, she denied knowing him.

"Now where to go, Wedge? Dyne asked him.

"Let's go to Cosmo Canyon," said Nanaki, "my home is there and I want to meet with my family, and I must also let you know that my adventure is over there. I plan to stay in my turf."

"If that's what you want us to do," Percy said as if he didn't care, but his eyes betrayed him as tears streamed down his face.

"Percy, don't be a tsundere," Lydia advised him, "don't act tough when you're soft on the inside."

"Then take care, Nanaki! Please come visit us some day and I'll make you something delicious to eat," Percy said tenderly, but his mouth betrayed him as he smiled maliciously.

"Don't be a yandere either," Lydia advised her again, "don't act cute when you're malicious inside."

"It's the nature of cats! That's Percy!" The cat boy introduced himself by putting his palms in a "V" so that they would highlight his face.

"Emm... -Yes, well, you heard Dyne, let's go to Cosmo Canyon," said Wedge, not knowing what to think of Percy.

.

.

The group arrived at Cosmo Canyon and Nanaki introduced them to their "grandfather" who was none other than the wise and elder of the village: Bugenhagen, who was also a renowned scientist and had his observatory far above the village.

"I am the last of my race," Nanaki said sadly, "my grandfather raised me because my cowardly father left the village one day when the enemies attacked us."

Bugenhagen asked the group to select three members to show them their laboratory, as only three people could enter their 3D holographic observatory.

Wedge decided that it would be Lydia, Tifa and Aerith, as Jesse did not want to separate from Biggs after what happened in the desert prison, and Yuffie, considered it boring to go to an observatory.

The old man led them into his observatory and began to run the 3D holographs.

"Unbelievable," Lydia whispered in amazement at the fantastic images that appeared in front of her and her friends. The entire solar system surrounded them and Bugenhagen began to explain to them the nature of the life current and its relationship to the planet.

"In a way Barrett was right," admitted Tifa, "the more Mako energy Shinra produces, the more endangered the planet is."

"Somehow I knew we all came from the lifestream," Aerith said.

Bugenhagen took them back to the group and then led the friends into a cave. The old man told them that if they defeated the ghosts in the cave, they would obtain several valuable Materias, and there was something he wanted to show Nanaki.

The group exchanged suspicious glances, but Bugenhagen assured them that there was no cheating, and Yuffie, who was obsessed with Materias, prayed for the group to enter the cave.

"Well, if we use Lydia and Percy's tactics, we won't have any problems," Wedge said and everyone went into the cave after Barrett convinced Dyne to go in with them, which was not easy because the man had a more sullen character than Barrett.

The ghosts of the cave and their leader did not represent a challenge for the friends, and in the end Bugenhagen led them out of the cave and pointed to a stone figure guarding the place.

"That's Seto there, your father Nanaki," Bugenhagen said with a heavy heart, "he didn't run away from the village, but he kept this entrance so that the enemy wouldn't pass by. The invaders fired arrows that turned flesh and blood into stone, but even though your father was petrified, he never stopped defending this place, and even today he still guards the entrance of the cosmos canyon. I did not tell you this before, because your mother asked me to before she died, she feared that you would seek revenge and die at the hands of the enemy tribe."

"Then father did not run away, but defended us to the last," said Nanaki and gave a mournful howl at the same time as Seto, the petrified warrior, seemed to shed tears.

The group decided to leave Bugenhagen and Nanaki alone, so they went around the place to buy supplies and so on. Wedge, seeing that it was too late, decided that everyone should spend the night there.

Lydia decided to tour the market with Tifa as Percy had stayed at the entrance of the tunnel to wait for Nanaki.

"Those two always fight, but in the end they get along well." Lydia noticed Tifa.

"It's true, a feline and a canine, now we just need a companion who looks like a mouse to have the whole group," Tifa joked with a wink of her eye.

Lydia noticed how each of the men passing by looked at Tifa with eyes like plates, or in a lewd or shy way.

"I wonder if she has back problems," Lydia thought with a nervous smile as she saw her friend's breasts wobble every time she moved.

Percy waited for Nanaki and in the end he and Bugenhagen left the cave.

"So you'll stay with us!" Percy was happy to hear that Nanaki would accompany them to save the planet.

"I wish I could go with you now, but with my 130 years on my shoulders, I'm afraid I'm not up for those jogs anymore." Said Bugenhagen.

"Come, Nanaki, let's give the good news to Lydia and the others."

.

.

By nightfall, the whole group sat around a large campfire and told several stories about themselves, but Cloud still seemed to have trouble remembering things from his childhood and Tifa seemed very uneasy.

Both Lydia and Percy saw that Wedge looked shyly at Tifa while she only had eyes for Cloud.

"I think Wedge lost his confidence," Percy whispered to Lydia, who nodded with a sad look.

"Look at him, his face lights up every time he sees Tifa," Lydia whispered, "I don't know what else to do."

.

.

Late at night, the group decided to go to bed, but Wedge as group leader stayed up a little longer to finalize the details of tomorrow's trip.

"Percy, can't you sleep?" Wedge asked him when he saw his friend approach him.

"I heard a coyote in the distance and I got nervous."

"But Percy, how can you get nervous? If you can become a panther, and you have superhuman strength as a cat boy, and in the worst case scenario you become a cat and fly away."

"Umnya, I didn't think of that," said Percy, pretending to be embarrassed, "tell me Wedge, can I stay with you in the meantime? Until I get sleepy."

"Sure, Percy, you want to help me with these things?" He started to say Wedge, but he saw how Percy turned into a cat and started yawning.

"Great help you turned out to be Percy," Wedge thought somewhat displeased.

"Tell me Wedge, you're still interested in Tifa," Percy suddenly let him go, making Wedge feel as if he had been thrown into a bucket of water.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, you always look at Tifa, but now you do it with a look of resignation."

"Wedge..."

"Look Percy. Tifa, she told me she was interested in Cloud."

"When did she tell you that?"

"In Gold Saucer, when we were on the cable car."

"Did she tell you that? Did she tell you he wasn't interested in you anymore?"

"Well, not... but..."

"Wedge, tell me what happened," Percy asked his friend and he told him everything that had happened.

"I see... you see you're a fool, she didn't tell you she wasn't interested in you, she just told you she still thinks about Cloud."

"Do you think so?"

"I'm sure of it! Look Wedge, I'm sure Tifa thinks about you, at least after the fight with Dio. Well, all right, think of Cloud too, but you have an advantage."

"And what is that?"

"That Cloud seems interested in Aerith! Or at least he shows no interest in Tifa. Besides, you have another advantage."

"That you look cooler than Cloud! No girl in her right mind would think of not giving you a ball if you went near her."

"I don't want any girl, I only have eyes for Tifa."

"I know, Wedge, and I keep the promise I made to you about helping you with Tifa."

"Thanks Percy, you and Lydia have helped me a lot. Now I think it's time for you to go to sleep."

"Good night Wedge," Percy said goodbye and left the place, but before losing Wedge he turned around and looked at his friend calmly. Wedge looked happy but Percy knew that the crimson sphere of his heart was cracking more and more.

Percy frowned and ran to Tifa's room.

"Tifa, Tifa" he was pushing her with his cat's paws.

"...What? Percy, is that you?" she replied sleepily.

"Tifa, we need to talk," said Percy, who became a cat boy again.

"What do you want, Percy?" Tifa told him, although she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, that's what you think."

"Can you read minds?" Tifa said apprehensive.

"It's not necessary," said Percy as he pointed to the cat's ears.

"This is about Wedge, isn't it?"

"No Tifa, it's not about Wedge, it's about Cloud."

"About Cloud?"

"Tifa, what are you hiding from us, the story Cloud told us isn't true, is it?"

Tifa opened her eyes like plates and tried to deny, but when she saw Percy's wise guy expression she knew it would be useless to hide it any longer.

"All right, but promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Ok, I will."

Tifa was silent for a few moments and finally decided to tell him everything, how the story of Cloud did not match reality, how Zack was and not Cloud who went to Nibelheim that day, the day Sephiroth went mad and burned the whole town.

"Implanted memories? But for what purpose?"

"I don't know Percy, that's why I've been on Cloud since the first day we met in Midgar."

"Lydia told me something about Cloud's aura, she told me she had never seen anything like it in her life. She couldn't explain what it was or could be diagnosed with."

"I'm so scared, Percy, and what if Cloud... It's not Cloud."

"If it's not Cloud, it doesn't mean he'll stop being your friend," he said, and Tifa seemed to relax.

"But it also means that you no longer have to be chained to a past that prevents you from seeing that there are other people who would give everything for you. Some of them are even in this place and have always shown you how much they love you."

"You mean Wedge..."

"Do you know of anyone else who has sacrificed everything he possessed in order to accompany you on this mission? Do you know anyone else who has formed and sculpted himself to get your attention? Do you know anyone else who's even shown their appreciation for you? No, right."

"But I'm not interested in Wedge."

"You're interested in Wedge," Percy cut off at the same time that he was pointing to his ears again, "but you're not as obsessed with him as you are with Cloud, but believe me Tifa, you're interested in Wedge, not only as a friend, but also as a man."

"I... I... "

"Tifa, just promise me that you'll think seriously about Wedge," Percy said to her and went to the exit, Tifa went back to bed.

"Tifa..." said Percy in the hall with the door about to close.

"Yes, Percy."

"Please... please... don't hurt my friend, don't hurt Wedge," he said with thick, heartfelt tears on his face.

.

.

The next morning, the group left for Nibelheim, Tifa and Cloud's hometown, because they had received information that Sephiroth might be there.

This time it was Biggs who was driving the bulldozer. Percy, Nanaki and Cait Sith were happy up ahead on the mechanical shovel.

Barrett, Cloud, Wedge, Dyne and Lydia were in the back of the trailer, while Aerith, Yuffie, Jesse and Tifa were in the front. Both Tifa and Lydia sometimes looked at each other sideways.

"How I wish I was like Tifa," Lydia thought. "So tall, strong and voluptuous, everyone looks up to her and sees her gawking."

"How I wish I was like Lydia," Tifa thought. "So small, fragile and beautiful, everyone wants to embrace and protect her."

"How jealous I am," the two girls sighed at the same time.

.

.

The friends arrived in Nibelheim and were stunned.

"Hey Tifa," said Jesse, "you and Cloud didn't tell us that the whole town was destroyed by fire."

"No, I don't understand, I told you the truth! The whole town was consumed by flames!"

"Maybe Shinra is trying to cover up the disaster," Wedge said.

"That's ridiculous," Lydia said, "they could have done the same with Gongaga as well."

"Be that as it may, we must go in and investigate," Wedge ordered.

The group entered the village and were annoyed with what the local people told them, according to them they had never seen Tifa or Cloud in their lives, even though they had always lived in the village, in fact, there was never a fire.

"We're not crazy!" Cloud complained, "I went into Tifa's room myself and even stole her underwear."

The whole group looked at Cloud in surprise.

"Yes, you know how to pick them," Percy mocked, but then Aerith hit him in the back of the head.

"Hell, you've got a heavy hand, I pity your boyfriend," Percy criticized her, and Aerith looked at him badly, making Percy run away to Lydia.

"We'd better go into the Shinra mansion," Wedge suggested, "maybe we'll find clues there to what the hell is going on here."

Friends entered the mansion and saw that it was also restored. Cloud went to the basement and then went up to tell the rest that he met Sephiroth and that he told him he was going to Mount Nibel.

The group was deciding the future course of action when Percy and Nanaki stopped their ears.

"There's someone complaining near the basement," Nanaki told them.

"It looks like he's having nightmares," Percy said and everyone went to investigate.

When they got to the basement they went straight into a chamber with a coffin in it.

"The noise is coming from over there," Percy pointed out.

Wedge approached the coffin to open it when it suddenly began to open slowly and from it emerged a strange individual wrapped in a long red suit that covered part of his face.

Lydia was impressed and started looking for her camera quickly.

"Excuse me, Mr. Nosferatu," Lydia asked, "could I take your picture?"

"I'm no vam..." was trying to say man, but just like with Barrett, Percy in the shape of a cat, he stuck himself in the man's face.

"Vampire! Vampire!"

"Percy, no!" Lydia shouted, but Percy wouldn't listen, and even Nanaki joined the fight and started biting the man in his cape.

"Die at once, you vile spawn!" Suddenly Percy shouted and everyone was surprised to see how the cat had a hammer on one paw and a stake on the other.

Lydia grabbed the cat at the last minute and he let go of the hammer and stake, while Barrett and Dyne held Nanaki and tried to control him.

"How could he hold a hammer and a stake? Yuffie asked, "He doesn't even have opposable thumbs! And most importantly, where he got them!"

Lydia apologized to the man who happened to be named Vincent.

"I used to belong to the Turks, but Professor Hojo used me in his experiments and I ended up with this form. When I learned that the woman I loved, Lucrecia, had died, I came to this remote village and decided to live in this coffin, to pay for my sins."

The group informed Vincent that they were after Sephiroth and Shinra to save the planet, so Vincent offered his services to help them as he had accounts to settle with Shinra.

Once Vincent joined the team, the group headed to Mount Nibel to see if Sephiroth was in the mako reactor.

Lydia was amazed to see the rugged mountain, with sharp, twisted peaks all over the place, and began to take pictures with her old camera.

The other members of the group did not understand Lydia's fascination with the sinister landscape. To them it was as if they were entering the realms of death, and perhaps that would be their destiny once they met Sephiroth.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**

The Bulldozer's Flight is based on the film: Terror Under The Earth (Tremors), with Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward and Michael Gross.


	13. The frustrated cosmonaut

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 13: The frustrated cosmonaut**

The group went to the mako reactor to meet Sephiroth, but it seems it was all a trap because there was only one monster in the reactor and they had to defeat it to get out of there.

"We'd better get out of Nibelheim," Wedge suggested, "we'll find clues to Sephiroth somewhere else."

As the group was about to leave the village, Percy saw in the distance some suspicious men in black habits heading off a cliff.

"We're too far away, you go, Percy!" Wedge ordered him, and Percy flew away in his cat shape.

When Percy returned, he told them that the men had made the "lemmings" into the abyss, but the curious thing is that they seemed to pronounce the name of Sephiroth.

Unable to solve this mystery, they all decided to go to the nearest town, which was Rocket City.

.

.

"Now I see why they call this place Rocket City," said Yuffie, impressed once they arrived in the city, and no one could blame her, as there was a huge rocket launch pad on the side of the town.

"Why is the rocket tilted?" Percy consulted them as he turned his torso and head to get a better view of the neglected launch pad.

"It's because Shinra cancelled the launch of the rocket," Lydia explained. "Shinra used to be a space explorer, but then went into the arms trade and the extraction of mako energy, which was what brought it the greatest benefits. I guess once the space program was cancelled, they didn't even bother to disarm the rocket."

"Isn't this a silly place to set up a village? It's right next to the rocket," asked Biggs.

"The village didn't exist before," Lydia told him, "I suppose the people wanted to make money from the rocket's shell as a tourist attraction and founded the village alongside it."

"Do you think there will be any clues about Sephiroth in this place?" Cait asked.

"We'll see about that now," Wedge said and ordered everyone to look for clues.

The group met after the search and Dyne told them that he had heard of a "captain" who might have information, so the group went to the famous man's house.

Upon arrival they were received by a woman named Shera, who looked like a scientist or a laboratory maintenance worker.

"What the...!" shouted a huge man with a cigar in his mouth. He looked unhappy to see so many people in his house.

"Captain Cid," Shera said nervously. "These people are looking for information about..."

"You are the ones from Shinra, aren't you? It's about time you two got here!" Cid shouted at them, confusing them with Shinra's emissaries.

Wedge cleared up the misunderstanding and Cid threw more insults.

Lydia and Percy didn't like that man because they (especially Lydia) didn't even use the word "asshole", but the adult would always let go of the loudest swearing they'd ever heard, and to the outrage not only of the girls, but also of the men, most of the insults were directed at Shera.

Wedge got up from his seat, but then thought better of it and decided to sit down again while biting his tongue.

"His house, his rules," Wedge thought so as not to criticize the man for his lousy attitude, which was also put into practice by the other members of the group.

Cid told them that he was waiting for President Rufus to come and give him the go-ahead to fly the rocket.

"It means the rocket is still operational!" Lydia exclaimed in surprise.

2I know it looks tilted," Cid said, releasing more insults, "but we set up a mechanism that will straighten the platform by the time Rufus gives the order for me to take off."

"What about the villagers?" Tifa asked.

"What the hell..., who told them to build a village next to my rocket," said Cid and everyone looked at him frowning.

"Here's the tea, Cid," Shera offered after returning from the kitchen.

"Yuck, you call it tea! You're nothing but a f..."

"l'll... I'll make the tea again," said Shera and shot out into the kitchen. Lydia woke up indignant, but Tifa held her hand and together they went to the kitchen accompanied by Aerith.

"Why do you let him talk to you like that?" Aerith questioned her, and Shera told them her story of how Cid almost became the first man to fly into space, but because of her, the rocket was cancelled and Shinra decided to cancel the space program.

"It's my fault, his dreams were destroyed because of me, the dreams of the whole team, serving the captain is the least I can do," Shera sighed with an expression of resignation.

"This girl needs urgent therapy," Aerith whispered to Tifa.

"Hey girls," said Yuffie, who was entering the kitchen at the time, "look out the window, there's a huge hydrofoil in the back yard of the ship."

"Let's see" Tifa said as she looked out the window, but immediately she hid.

"It's Rufus and Palmer!" Tifa whispered to them, making Yuffie sneak into the room and tell her friends.

The whole group took refuge in the kitchen, which was difficult as there were 14 people. Shera went into the living room and told Cid that Rufus was coming, so the man went into the backyard to greet the visitors.

"President Rufus! It was not necessary for you to come through the back of my house, I would have received you from the front," said Cid without uttering any insults this time.

In the kitchen things were not very comfortable, as they were all together and scrambled.

"Hey, don't touch it," complained Jesse, indignant at the sight of someone taking advantage of the situation, "wait a minute, it's my hand, damn it! I thought it was someone else's hand."

"Lydia, are you okay?" asked Percy, who with his arms outstretched formed a barrier for Lydia to breathe.

"Yeah, thanks, Percy. What about you?"

"I'm fine, except for the fact that Dyne's arm is embedded in my back."

"Thank you Wedge," said Tifa and everyone turned to see what was going on. Turns out Wedge was imitating Percy and giving Tifa some space.

Complaints here, complaints there, but the group had to put up with them in order to stay hidden and listen to Cid and Rufus' conversation.

"What the... so you didn't come to continue with the rocket, you just want my modified seaplane, the one that can take off either in water or on land!"

"My plane broke down and I need yours, Cid," Rufus told him, and each time Cid was throwing more and more insults.

"That's enough! Palmer, take care of the details with this one... Captain," said Rufus with a sneer and left the place with his men.

"Uff... this is when" Wedge snorted out of breath and the whole group went out to palmer.

"Avalanche will take the seaplane!" Wedge threatened and Palmer, pulling out a machine gun, started shooting left and right, fortunately the fat guy was more of an executive than a sniper and didn't hit any targets, well, except the seaplane.

Palmer, frustrated, reloaded his gun and was run over by a truck from I don't know where.

"Oh my meow! We were saved by Optimus Prime!" exclaimed Percy, unaware of the drunk driver behind the wheel.

Several Shinra soldiers are approaching! Barrett shouted and the whole group entered the seaplane, including Cid.

"This is my f... seaplane, if you go with it, so am," the man barked stubbornly at them.

The seaplane reached the coast of the continent and then began to lose height.

"That son of... palmer reached the engine of the ship" Cid told the others and they had to make a landing.

Cid, along with Barrett and Dyne, tried to repair the engine after the landing, but were unsuccessful.

"The good news is that we'll be able to get to Wutai and refuel," Barrett told them, and Yuffie was moved by the news.

"The bad news," Barrett continued, "is that the hydroplane won't fly again, so we'll have to use it as a ship."

Cid was very upset with the news, but then a sadistic taste came over him when he heard that the group was going to defeat Sephiroth and also to Shinra, and he gladly offered his services to the group.

.

.

The seaplane reached the shores of Wutai, but the group had to rest on the beach as it was dark. Or at least that was the idea, because Barrett and Cid got into a lot of trouble because they were too drunk and didn't even listen to Wedge who was trying to put the house in order.

"I think it would be best to move the camp somewhere else," Lydia suggested to Tifa, seeing that the racket promised to go on until dawn.

"But we've already set up camp," said Tifa.

"But we won't sleep at night with those two making a fuss," Lydia said.

"Where did they get the beers?" Aerith asked.

"They were in the back of the seaplane," Yuffie told them, who apparently had already consumed some cans and was laughing.

"Lydia's right," said Jesse, "we'd better go away. Let's take the tents apart and take Yuffie with us."

"Hey, don't forget me," said Biggs.

"Don't you want to stay and enjoy the party?" Jesse asked him.

"No way," said Biggs, shaking his head, "you know how Barrett gets when he drinks, and I think that's what happens to that Cid. I already talked to Cloud and Wedge, they're coming with us too. What about Percy?"

"Percy and I are too young to drink," Lydia reminded him. What about the others?

"Well," said Biggs, "Dyne and Vincent, they're grumpy and absorbed in looking at the ocean, so I don't think they care where they are, as for Cait Sith, he's disconnected, and it turns out Nanaki's already gone ahead of you and gone away to sleep."

The girls asked the men to dismantle the tents and they had no choice but to listen to them, then they got far away from the place and the boys started to set up the camp.

"Tifa, can I sit next to you?" Lydia asked her.

"Sure Lydia, is something wrong?"

"No, I just want to have some conversation, until the boys finish setting up the tents."

"Soon they'll be finished and then we'll be able to sleep," Tifa said as she watched Cloud pitch one of the tents.

"I hope we can sleep, after the walk here, the dream has already passed."

"You're right, Lydia, stupid Barrett and Cid, stupid adults," said Tifa and Lydia laughed.

"Well, I guess to you, Lydia, all of us here are the adults, except for Yuffie and Percy."

"Maturity is not something that comes with age," says Lydia, her eyes narrowed and she pretended to be upset, but her smile gave her away.

"You're right, there's Barrett and Cid and they're behaving like two kids," nodded Tifa.

"I guess we'll have to leave them with Cait Sith," Lydia noted in a serious voice, "we can't go where Yuffie lives with the seaplane, we'll have to walk very early and the two "adults" won't be able to walk quickly."

Tifa nodded and the two women continued to observe the boys' work. Aerith and Jesse took care of a sleepy Yuffie.

"Yes, they are useless," said Tifa, referring to the work of boys, "men are bad at this kind of thing."

"Men and women are not really that different," Lydia reasoned, "men should stop watching so much sport and pay more attention to us, and women should stop watching so many soap operas and give them more attention."

"Tell me, Tifa, who do you think will be the first to set up the tent?"

"Cloud," said Tifa without hesitation.

"It's funny, Tifa, because Wedge has long since finished lifting his own, now he's just fixing the details."

"When I asked you if we could put up the tents faster and better, Wedge was finished, but you were just looking at what Cloud was doing or rather at what Cloud wasn't doing."

Tifa stared at Lydia.

"Cloud will never raise that tent."

"Cloud will finish it."

"Perhaps, but it will take so long that a new day will come. You're still gonna pretend it's night, as long as you wait for Cloud to finish?"

"Cloud could hurry up and finish my tent."

"Sure? It won't be that if he hurry, it will be to finish someone else's tent," Lydia whispered as she pointed her face at the beach.

Cloud had finished setting up the tent but was on his way to Aerith and offering her his sleeping tent. Tifa was looking down at the hurt scene.

"No tent has your name or anyone else's name on it," Lydia pointed out. Don't you think it would be better to help to set up the tent together?

Lydia got up and went to help Percy, while Wedge went to Tifa and offered her the tent he had set up.

"Thank you Wedge, now finish setting up your tent" Tifa thanked him and Wedge went to the beach.

Once all the individual tents had been set up, the group went to bed, but Tifa sat there watching the stars shine in the black ocean waters.

"I was right, my sleep stopped," Lydia muttered angrily and sat down next to Tifa.

"Lydia..." was starting to call her Tifa. "You think I'm wrong to expect a tent to have my name on it?"

"In the end, nothing bears your name, nothing falls from the sky," Lydia told her. "My thing with Percy, although it may seem like something out of a romantic fanfic, was also the result of the effort, acceptance and commitment of both of us."

"Effort, acceptance and commitment..."

"Those words are scary, Tifa, because they imply not only being for the good but also for the bad."

"Tifa," Lydia surprised her in a serious voice and sat facing the woman. "Tell me why you're so interested in Cloud, and don't tell me the same story you told Percy in Canyon City."

Tifa was surprised, but told her all about her childhood and her brief contact with the blond man.

"From what you tell me," Lydia analyzed, "you're putting Cloud on a pedestal, you never knew him well, you never talked enough."

"We talked enough," Tifa cut her off, "enough for him to promise to come to my aid when something bad happened to me."

"At that age no one knows what commitment means," Lydia contradicted, and Tifa frowned.

"It's nice, Tifa," Lydia sighed, "to wait for your knight in shining armor to rescue you. I wished for that myself as well, however, you know what, the taste for knights in shining armor went away when I was ten or eleven years old."

Tifa felt as if she had been slapped and looked at Lydia angrily, but the Gothic girl did not look away.

"And I'm sure that my other schoolmates, too, discarded those tastes at the same age, and they are some..." Lydia wanted to continue, but she bit her lip so as not to resort to insults. "Tifa, you never came out of your coma after falling off the bridge, you're still waiting for your Prince Charming, with your lovely ten years."

"I'm an adult" was starting to say angry Tifa, but Lydia cut her off.

"You know how to fight, you run a bar," Lydia assessed with unnatural calm, "but as far as I know, you learned to fight so you wouldn't get hurt anymore, you run a bar because you hate being alone. All you do is escape, or rather, bury your head in the sand like an ostrich and take refuge in the childhood memory of someone you didn't even know well at first."

Tifa covered her ears with her hands, but Lydia continued.

"One should not discard the memories, even the painful ones... But if we hold on to these, we run the risk of losing what is valuable right in front of us and which extends its hand to us or even as in your case both hands."

"You mean Wedge?"

"Wedge always extended his hand to you, but what you refuse to see is that he also extends both hands to you. Not only does she appreciate and respect you as a friend, she also appreciates and respects you as a woman, the woman he desires with all her heart and body. Wedge, will never put you on a pedestal and see you as a doll, will never transform you into his mother or his maid, you will always be to him that precious object of love and passion that he will always be willing to reciprocate."

Lydia stood up and then caressed Tifa's face.

"I just want you to think about what I told you," Lydia concluded and went to sleep in her tent.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	14. The two cat's fight

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 14: The two cats' fight**

The next morning, the friends returned to Barrett and Cid's place, to the unpleasant surprise that Dyne and Vincent were also sleeping with loose legs and empty beer cans around them.

"Cait, Nanaki," asked Wedge, "stay here and take care of these idiots and also take care of the seaplane, please."

The group was led by Yuffie, who had to be carried by Wedge.

"I hope you've learned your lesson," Wedge said.

"How was I to know that that beer was strong?" Yuffie cried as she saw the road with red, sleepy eyes.

After a while Yuffie felt better and began to caress Wedge's back.

"This is a big, muscular back, I could get used to it every day."

"Woa, don't lean back! You'll make us fall," Wedge warned him.

"Sorry, I'll stick to your back," she apologized with a lascivious smile, and the ninja glued her body to Wedge's back with a greedy glance, while she looked at Tifa arrogantly.

"What? You thought you were the only girl in the universe," Percy said in a boring tone and raising his shoulders as he overtook Tifa, "I have news for you, like you, there are millions, not billions."

Tifa looked at Percy badly, but then turned her face and soured at the sight of Yuffie sniffing Wedge's hair and licking her lips. She was going to kiss his neck!

"I think you've had enough rest, Yuffie!" Tifa shouted as she approached the ninja and with her hand pushed her to the ground on her back.

"Hey, what's wrong with you!" Yuffie yelled at her.

"Wedge is no mule for you to take advantage of," Tifa said angrily.

"The only mule is you, in fact you're worse than that, you're just the dog in the orchard, who neither eats nor let's eat. Come back with your chocobo, Oh I forgot, he didn't even give you a shit!"

Tifa slapped Yuffie and the ninja looked at her with her eyes open like plates.

"Tifa!" Aerith reprimanded her, but Yuffie kicked Tifa right in the chin.

The two women looked at each other for a second and then went against each other.

"Jesse, Aerith, stop them!" Lydia shouted, while Percy was petrified next to her and stared at the scene in fear.

Both Jesse and Aerith did their best to separate them, but they were not warriors and in the end did nothing but get in the way and get the occasional kick.

Wedge seemed to come out of the trance and joined the girls to try to stop the fight, but even with the help of her two friends he couldn't stop Tifa and Yuffie.

"Cloud, Biggs, don't just stand there! I need help!"

With the intervention of the three men, they were finally able to separate the two girls and finally released them when they promised not to throw themselves at each other.

"For heaven's sake, Tifa! What's wrong with you, she's just a kid!" Jesse scolded her a long way from Yuffie.

"Yuffie, why did you have to hit her!" Aerith scolded her.

"She started it! Didn't you see? She slapped me!"

"And you kicked her!" Aerith replied angrily.

After the sermon that Jesse and Aerith released to the girls, they decided to start the march, which was the same or more tense than when they came out of fort condor.

Yuffie was in the lead, and behind the group, Tifa. Wedge had decided that to avoid further confrontations. Percy camouflaged himself in the middle of the group, nervous that he might be blamed for the fight.

.

.

They arrived at Yuffie's town and the villagers greeted the ninja with respect.

"Why does everyone greet you like that, Yuffie?" Lydia asked as she took pictures of the cherry blossoms.

"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a princess in this place," laughed Yuffie in the same way as the evil women in the animes.

"Are you a ninja princess?" Percy asked impressed.

"Not a ninja princess, _the ninja_ princess of all Wutai," Yuffie explained loudly, turning her face towards Tifa.

"Many brag about being princesses, but the truth is that they are just simple villagers who are in the end just waitresses at a bar or something," the ninja continued, laughing maniacally.

Tifa, who had fire in her eyes, wanted to get close to Yuffie, but was stopped by Wedge, who looked at her with authority.

"Many of them are waiting for their Prince Charming, but in the end they don't have what I have to offer them," Yuffie insisted, laughing like an evil woman.

Tifa continued to insist, but this time Wedge looked at her with the face of few friends.

"If you are the Princess of Wutai, could you arrange an interview with your father? Maybe he has clues about Sephiroth, and he could provide us with spare parts for the seaplane."

"Sure, Lydia, anything for you. What did you expect, a slap in the face?" Yuffie said aloud for everyone to hear, and Lydia thanked her with an uncomfortable smile.

"But first let's go to the bar for a bite to eat, I'm starving," Yuffie suggested resolutely and led the group to the place.

When they entered the bar, Yuffie asked Lydia if Wutai's bar was better than Tifa's.

"I think they're just as splendid," Lydia said uncomfortably because she hated lying, but didn't want to give Yuffie more fuel to make fun of Tifa.

The friends sat at a table and Percy informed them that the Turks were eating at one of the tables in the back.

"Do you think they're following us?" Cloud asked.

"I don't think so, for sure they are also looking for clues to Sephiroth," Wedge replied.

"Besides, you can tell by the way that they've been eating for a long time now, from the amount of plates on the side of the table," said Biggs, rolling his eyes so Cloud looked at him frowningly.

"Now don't you start now," Wedge quietly warned, "I think we'll leave the food for later."

Yuffie reluctantly accepted and the group decided to leave the place to go and meet the monarch of Wutai.

.

.

"Daddy gladly agreed to meet with you," Yuffie happily reported, "but that will be tomorrow, now we must rest."

"Thank you Yuffie," Wedge thanked her, "now we'd better go looking for a place to stay..."

"Oh no! don't waste Lydia's precious money on five, six or even seven star hotels," Yuffie cut him off. "Come to my palace and you can rest in real imperial rooms."

"I don't think we should bother you..." was trying to say Wedge.

"We accept!" Percy shouted jubilantly.

"Don't worry, Percy, the palace will serve you exquisite seafood," said Yuffie, and Percy's mouth watered.

Yuffie was not joking about his father's palace, luxury and ostentation were balanced with simplicity and harmony, it was like being in paradise.

Yuffie ordered that a banquet be prepared for his friends, who shared the place with other women of the Wutai nobility, all of whom were very beautiful.

The women behaved politely, but they laughed with disguise every time Tifa (and only Tifa) tried to eat something.

"Don't worry, Tifa, eat with your hands, after all, you grew up in the country and it's not your fault that you don't know how to eat real food, so we're among friends," Yuffie said, pretending to be innocent.

Lydia knew how to eat oriental dishes, but the other girls also had difficulties, but was only Tifa, the target of the mocking and sneaking laughter.

"Say ahhhh," Yuffie said to Wedge, trying to give him something to eat.

"I don't think I have an appetite. If you'll excuse me, I'll go to my room," Tifa excused herself with tears peeking out of her eyes.

Wedge tried to get up, but Yuffie, grabbed him by the arm and pushed him towards her.

"You know Wedge, if you wanted to you could eat these delicacies for the rest of your life... if you stay in Wutai, with me."

Tifa turned around and started running to her room while she was crying.

After a while the other girls called Tifa's room and since she didn't answer she decided to come in. Tifa was sitting on the bed with a pillow hugged over her head and it looked like she had been crying.

The girls tried their best to comfort her, but in that moment Tifa threw the pillow to the side of the room.

"Even the pillow has the most exquisite and delicate perfume I have ever perceived!"

"Tifa, you don't have to let Yuffie abuse you, he's much younger than you!" Jesse said to her.

"It's true, you have to take revenge on that child," Aerith said.

"I think it would be best if you didn't pay attention to her, because she enjoys it more when you get angry" Lydia said looking at Aerith in a frown.

"At the end... I'm just a peasant girl who doesn't even know how to make decent food in a crummy bar in the middle of the ghetto."

"Tifa, no..." Lydia murmured to her with pity while the other girls exchanged worried looks.

"You have seen the other "princesses", what can I offer?"

"Offer what to whom?" Aerith suddenly asked with a frown.

"Girls, I've got the latest chimes!" Percy shouted, opening the door suddenly and not feeling ashamed that he had entered without knocking first.

"Percy now is not the time." Lydia calmed him down.

"No, I think it's time for him now," said Percy, making the girls look at him strangely.

"What do you mean, Percy?" Jesse asked.

"The other "princesses" were talking about proposing to your boy," Percy reported with an innocent face, and Tifa suddenly looked up at the cat boy. She looked scared.

"Don't worry, Tifa" Jesse reassured her, "Cloud won't be interested..."

"They were also talking about proposing to Biggs," Percy cut her pretending to be innocent.

"WHAAAT!" Jesse yelled and flew out of the room.

"One down," Percy thought.

"I don't know why Jesse ran," Percy said, continuing the performance, "because it is Cloud who is most at risk of saying yes, I accept, because there are so many princesses out there."

"Another one by the nose for the drag," Percy thought as Aerith ran out of the room.

After a few seconds Tifa came out of the trance and was ready to follow Aerith.

"Of course, not as much as Wedge," Percy was following his plan, making Tifa stop and sit back on her bed. "You can tell that never even a girl was interested in him, and now there are so many beautiful women ready to give him all their love, oh the temptation! If only he had a girl he could call his friend... But, well, if none of the guys go down tonight, they'll probably do it later, I mean, even me as a guy can tell you how handsome they are. Sooner or later some girl from the billions out there will steal their hearts. But you don't have to worry about that, Tifa. After all, Cloud never cared about you, and you never cared about Wedge, he's just your friend, right?"

Lydia pulled Percy's arm and took him out of the room and into one of the hallways.

"I can't believe it Percy, going into Tifa's room like that and telling her all those lies to mortify her," Lydia scolded.

"That's the best thing about it, Lydia, I didn't tell any lies! The princesses were talking about proposing to those three," Percy said, and Lydia was surprised.

"Apparently, blondes are rare here in Wutai, at least natural blonds," he said with a cat giggle.

"From what you're saying, I see Cloud is the most sought after and not Wedge as you said," Lydia found out, and Percy swallowed saliva. "What about Biggs?"

"I didn't lie about Biggs!"

"But you didn't tell the whole truth, did you?" Lydia asked him with a frown and staring at him.

"Well, when I heard them, he told them that he already had someone," Percy admitted in a quiet voice and with genuine sorrow.

"Then, it was all to get rid of Aerith and Jesse, because knowing Cloud, he would never say "yes, I accept". So you had free rein to mortify Tifa," Lydia criticized him in anger.

"I wasn't trying to mortify Tifa! I was just, I was just trying to follow the plan to help Wedge... just like you on the beach..." Percy tried to continue but when he saw Lydia's expression he was scared.

"What you did was to mortify her, what I did was to have a woman to woman conversation," Lydia said grimly and Percy was truly sorry.

"I'm sorry, Lydia."

"And who was planning to propose to you, Percy?" Lydia muttered suspiciously and made Percy sweat cold.

"Naaaa... nana... nobody."

"Percy..."

"...Well, some little girls."

"and?"

"...Some princesses of my age."

"and?"

"...Some adult women."

Lydia was staring at her boyfriend.

"But you know I would never cheat on you! Never!" Percy said on his knees and began to cry tears of true fear as he embraced Lydia.

"Okay, I forgive you, I know you'd never cheat on me, but no more dirty tactics to help Wedge."

"Don't ask me that! You know Wedge needs all the help he can get!" Percy begged her, crying without pretending.

"I know... I know..."

"Don't be sad Lydia, you'll see how everything goes fine with Tifa and Wedge."

"I hope so, Percy," said Lydia as she smiled sadly and looked the cat boy in the eye.

"Mooo, I'm a cat boy, but you always win the staring match," Percy said and Lydia laughed.

"That's the way I like it," said Percy and hugged Lydia.

.

.

Late at night, everyone slept except for two figures hidden in the shadows.

"Here are the Materias I promised you."

"Come to Mommy."

"Everything went almost perfectly, but you didn't have to start a fight."

"She started it, and what do you mean by "almost"?"

"That it would have been perfect if she had proposed to him right there."

"Your plan was to make her jealous, but in the end I almost kicked her ass."

"Or she'd kick it to you."

"Shut up!"

"In short, the feast and the subtle humiliation were very good."

"That was free, dear, free."

"I'm glad, because I don't have any more Materia, at least not until we get to the other town."

"Where do you get the money? It won't be that you..."

"Of course not, I would never steal her money, I am spending it out of my own pocket."

"And honestly, does what you earn come from...?"

"You don't want to know anything else."

"Right, well, we'd better go to sleep, each one to his own room."

"Bye."

From the shadows came the figures of a ninja girl and a cat.

.

.

The next day, the group had an audience with Yuffie's father and he gave them some clues about Sephiroth's whereabouts and the promised land, unfortunately, could not help them with the spare parts of the seaplane, as this being a modified airplane did not have the exact spare parts.

The group nearly withdrew but the monarch ordered Yuffie to stay. Yuffie refused and the monarch had no choice but to test her. If his daughter defeated the best ninjas in the shinobi tower, she could continue the journey with her friends.

Yuffie agreed and was taken to the tower. After an hour Yuffie came down from the tower covered with scars and her arms overflowing with Materias.

"I have defeated the warriors and now, as the law commands, their Materias are mine," Yuffie declared solemnly.

The girl's injuries looked serious and Tifa felt sorry for her because of the cruel childhood she had to endure as a ninja, but Yuffie had to open her mouth.

"Intelligence, power, beauty and wealth, I am truly unique, while others are some of the billions that are out there, watered like the common ones that they are. And they're called common because like cattle dung, they're all over the place."

Tifa looked at her furiously, but Yuffie held the arrogant look in her eyes.

After drying their sweat, Wedge and the group headed back to where their other friends were, but the Turks intercepted them.

It turned out that the bullies didn't want to fight, they only asked for their help since Don Corneo had kidnapped one of their members and planned to sell the girl to the white slave trade.

Wedge and the others agreed so that the members of Avalanche and the Turks could cover more ground and eventually surrounded Corneo.

"This place looks like the mountain of the anime Naruto," Percy thought. "I wonder who copied whom."

Corneo went to an area where it was difficult to face him. Wedge was getting ahead to face Corneo and rescue the girl when he was stopped by Tifa.

"This one is mine," said Tifa with fire in her eyes and her face contracted from the rage, causing Wedge to give her the mission.

"Tell me Corneo, you also plan to "interview" this girl before selling her," hissed Tifa with a dangerous psychotic look on her face.

"Don't... don't... don't come near me!" The man wept in fear as he saw Tifa's expression.

"This time you're paying for it all, you pervert," threatened Tifa and pounced on the fat man.

Apparently tifa removed all the frustration accumulated in Wutai with the buttery one as she struck him so hard that Corneo was a shapeless, bloody mass in the end.

"No... no, don't kill me..."

"I'm not going to kill you Don, that's what the Turks are for," Tifa whispered to him and then he threw the fat man at the suits guys.

"The next time we meet, we will be enemies," said the leader of the Turks.

"Next time, pray that I' m not in this mood," Tifa warned him and went on.

Tifa and Yuffie looked at each other just before they left, it was obvious that things were going to be just as bad with them in the future.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	15. The betrayal of a spy cat

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 15: The betrayal of a spy cat**

The group's seaplane was heading towards Gongaga, as according to information given to them by Yuffie's father, there was a black stone in the shape of a pyramid.

"We have to retrace our steps" Wedge resigned himself when they saw the coast.

The group arrived at the house where the black pyramid was supposed to be, but the owner of the stone told them that he had sold it to Dio, the owner of Gold Saucer.

"And now that we're going well, we can't go back to that place!" Barrett shouted once outside the house.

"Have the cat check the ground first," Cid would suggest, in a bad way, and by releasing the usual insults.

Wedge agreed with Cid's idea and the group turned to Gold Saucer again.

.

.

"In the shape of a cat, fly to Gold Saucer and see if they're looking for us," said Vincent.

"No winged mouse will tell a feline what to do," said Percy poisonously.

"I'm not a vampire and I don't turn into a bat either," said Vincent in his monotonous voice.

"Then what do you become?" Cait asked him.

"In a kind of werewolf with horns, replied in a boring tone."

"What, another canine!" shouted Percy indignantly.

"Percy please don't pick a fight and do what Vincent told you," Lydia asked him with a frown and Percy obeyed.

After half an hour, Percy returned and informed friends that no one knew the identity or description of the attackers, yet the local police were still on the trail of anyone with a forearm weapon.

"No way. Barrett, Dyne, you stay here," Wedge ordered, and the giants accepted.

"We'll set up a tent at the base of the stairs," Barrett told them.

"I wonder if I'll be able to buy beer at Corel's camp," said Dyne and the other members of the group rolled their eyes or looked at them with their eyes narrowed in reproach.

The rest of the group went up to Gold Saucer and searched everywhere for the black pyramid.

"I just spotted our target," Nanaki pointed to Vincent and the man carefully stole the pyramid that was on a pedestal next to a fountain in the park.

"Apparently Dio didn't know the true value of the stone to put it in this place," said Vincent to Nanaki, and then they rushed to his friends.

Already with the black pyramid, the group was about to leave Gold Saucer, however, damage to the cable car caused by the storm put all means of transport out of service.

"Vincent, turn into a bat and tell Barrett and Dyne that we'll have to spend the night here," Percy told him.

"I'm not a vampire," the man reminded him in a boring tone.

"Why don't you transport us down?" Jesse asked Percy.

"The distance is too much," Percy explained. "Besides, with the storm it would be your funeral, I couldn't even transport you one by one. However, I could fly myself down and tell our friends we'll be spending the night here."

The group agreed and after Percy returned from talking to the two giants downstairs, they decided to find a place to sleep.

"All the hotels are full," Cait told them sadly, "but don't worry, since I worked in this place, I know a place where we can spend the night."

The place Cait Sith was referring to was the attraction of the park: the haunted house.

Needless to say, the group had its reluctance to enter the grim place, even with the storm roaring over them, or rather, the storm made things scarier.

"A haunted mansion on a stormy night," said Tifa nervously.

"And if you didn't notice, there are 13 of us," Yuffie made them even more nervous.

Only Lydia and Percy seemed to be in glory, as Lydia began taking pictures of the "haunted house" and her friends next to the Victorian-style mansion. Percy also took one of Lydia's cameras and started taking pictures of the Goth girl with the house in the background.

"This attraction is very much like your house, Lydia," said Aerith apprehensive and holding on to Cloud's arm.

"Yes, it's great," Percy said happily.

"It's terrifying and beautiful," adds Lydia, radiant.

"Well, let's go in," Wedge ordered, and the others looked at him with the face of few friends. "Remember, this is not a real haunted house, it's just a park attraction."

"Pity..." Lydia and Percy sighed at the same time with a sad expression.

The interior of the house looked creepy.

"This place is beautiful," Percy said, admiring the place. "Lydia, let's get married here!"

All the other members of the group spat out loud drinks they had not drunk before and looked at Percy with eyes open like plates.

"Cait Sith! Can you get a priest or something? Cid, you're a captain! Can you perform wedding ceremonies?" asked the cat boy with eyes open like plates and full of little stars inside.

"Hey, hey, not so fast..." Jesse was braking him impressed.

"But..." Percy said.

"Jesse is right Percy," Lydia smiled radiantly at him, "it would not be convenient to get married in a tourist attraction, we have already talked about that, we will get married properly and with all the paraphernalia in a more suitable place... like a Gothic castle."

"I'm sorry Lydia I let myself be carried away nya," Percy replied, holding a hand to the back of his head for shame, not for suggesting the ceremony, but for suggesting such an inappropriate place.

"You know," said Tifa nervously, "I don't think we should be looking for single rooms."

"Right girl," added Aerith, reading Tifa's thought. "I think girls should share a room, like a pajama party!"

"What a ridiculous idea..." was trying to say Yuffie, but Jesse elbowed her.

"It's true," Jesse hurriedly said in a cold sweat, "this is going to be a girls' night out."

Percy was trying to talk but all the girls grabbed Lydia and took her to a spacious room.

"I think the girls don't want Lydia and Percy sleeping in the same room," Wedge whispered to Biggs.

"It's amazing how things are moving forward more and more these days," Nanaki noticed as he walked up to the fireplace and readied himself to sleep near it.

"I'm looking for my own room," Cid barked, releasing a string of insults to no one in particular.

"I see a coffin in that corner, I think I'll sleep there," said Vincent trying to act cool after the scene with Percy and Lydia, but late because he reacted the most comically.

"Hey Cloud," said Biggs with a sneer. "You think Wedge and I should take Percy and have another pajama party of our own."

Cloud looked at him badly and then went to find his own room, then Wedge and Biggs did the same thing.

"Why me!" Percy shouted to the roof of the house.

"Do you have to ask that?" Cait Sith shook his head and then disconnected.

Percy, frustrated, knocked down Cait Sith and his golem cat, and then transformed himself into a cat and climbed onto the cat-golem's belly.

"At least it will be like sleeping on Totoro's belly," Percy yawned and hummed the anime song and fell asleep.

.

.

Percy noticed in the middle of the dream that something bad was happening but didn't care and went on sleeping. But then he got up uncomfortable.

"How strange... it smells like a dog," said Percy who tried to focus on Cait Sith, but saw that he was on Nanaki.

"Growwww," Nanaki roared as he felt Percy's claws pierce his back.

"Why do you wake me up like that!" Nanaki snarled at him.

"Why did you get me out of my bed-Totoro!" Percy frowned back.

The two of them were arguing for a moment and then noticed the disappearance of Cait Sith and his "saddle".

"I wonder where they went?" Percy muttered, and in that Aerith and Cloud went down to the ground floor.

Although they had nothing to hide, Nanaki and Percy were pulled by their animal instincts and were frightened by the presence of the two young guys approaching, thus pretending to be asleep. Nanaki hugged Percy and vice versa.

"Look Cloud, those two look so cute."

"They only get along well when they're asleep, Aerith."

When they both left the house, the performance ended.

"Get away, you smell like, you smell like a dog!" Percy let him go and Nanaki grunted at him.

"Those two look suspicious," Percy the cat muttered thoughtfully and looked at the floor or ceiling, while eluding Nanaki's bites with the grace of a ballet dancer.

"Stop bothering and leave at once," Nanaki growled.

"Nanaki, you're a genius!" Suddenly Percy shouted and hugged him with what Nanaki was stunned with.

Percy turned into cat boy and took Lydia's cameras and shot out of the house.

"Cats!" Nanaki cursed and returned to the fireplace to go back to sleep.

It turned out that Aerith and Cloud had a date on the sly and Percy decided to keep taking all the pictures of them and at the most impossible angles to make it look like they were more "candy" than they really were.

"Good thing I paid attention to Lydia's hobby and her photographs," Percy thought.

In the end, Percy gathered a large, "juicy" material, but then saw that the two of them followed Cait Sith who was acting suspiciously and was carrying the black pyramid!

To the outrage of the two young pair, Cait Sith turned out to be a spy for Shinra and handed over the pyramid to the Turks. Apparently Cait Sith, or rather, whoever operated on Cait Sith by remote control, had Marlene and Aerith's mother in his custody, however, he promised them that he would not harm them, provided they would let him go with them until they found Sephiroth.

Percy left immediately for the house and called out to everyone. When everyone was on the ground floor, Cait came in, along with Cloud and Aerith, the two of them were holding hands.

Tifa was looking at the scene in amazement and was already addressing the couple but Percy stopped her and told them all about Cait Sith's betrayal, without of course ignoring the appointment of Aerith and Cloud.

The whole group started screaming and Cait insisted on staying with the group.

"If you don't believe me, look!" Percy said and gave the photos of the betrayal (and the quote from Cloud and Aerith) to the others who passed them on to each other.

Tifa was dismayed and what made her most angry was that she couldn't decide which of the two things she should be most outraged about, whether it was Cait's betrayal or Cloud's secret date.

In the end, the group reluctantly decided to accept the company of Cait Sith (who refused to tell the true identity of his operator), but they agreed that they would not tell either Barrett or Dyne about it for fear of not knowing how they would react.

.

.

The next day, the friends and Cait Sith went down to the two giants, who, although a little drunk, immediately knew that something was going on by their friends' long faces.

"There was a drama last night," Percy explained to Barrett and Dyne, to the horror of the others. "Look at this! The pictures of the shame, you can imagine what happened next."

Barrett and Dyne saw the pictures and shook their heads.

"So a date on the sly," said Barrett and everyone breathed easy.

"Can you believe it! Hey Barrett, last night Tifa and Aerith almost hit each other (he was lying), thank goodness I stopped them with my incomparable charisma or would there have been a whole cat fight or should I say cats? You who are her friend couldn't tell Tifa to stop thinking about the chocobo head and look for someone else, someone I don't know... THAT IS INTERESTED IN HER!" Percy exclaimed, pretending to be angry and pointing his tail at Wedge at the same time.

"This one knows how to lie," thought the other members of the group, looking at the cat boy in a frown, except for Lydia who shook her head.

The group went to the elders' temple and met the wounded Turkish leader at the door and with the black pyramid in his hands. According to him, Sephiroth had wounded him.

Barrett and Dyne wanted to explain why the man had the black pyramid, but Percy, lying, told them that the one they found was a fake and so they threw it away.

"And why did we come to the temple knowing that we did not have the key (black pyramid)?" Dyne asked.

"Lydia had a vision in which we would find the suit guy here with the key," the cat boy lied quickly with such an innocent face that he made the two giants end up convinced by the lie.

"Damn it, I won't believe him anymore," thought the other members of the group as they looked up at Percy, except for Lydia who continued to shake her head.

Percy badly took the key from the suit guy and then, walking on him and not forgetting to step on his noble parts, he went to the entrance of the temple. With the help of the key, the group was teleported into the temple of the elders.

The whole interior of the temple consisted of complicated labyrinths, traps and puzzles that the group had to solve. It was a good thing that they had a flying cat that could transport them five by five and so they didn't have to waste time, and they skipped all the way.

In the end, they came to a kind of corridor with Egyptian hieroglyphics which explained that the misuse of Black Materia would summon a meteorite that would head to the planet to destroy it.

It was impossible to obtain the Black Materia without sacrificing himself in the process, so Cait volunteered for the job because he was a machine after all. Once the Black Materia was obtained, the group rushed out of the place as the temple began to crumble.

"Why does this always happen, in the movies or in real life!" Percy complained as he transported his friends over and over again as fast as he could.

The group arrived safely outside the temple of the elders thanks to Percy when Cait appeared there.

"My robotic body saved me from being crushed!" Cait Sith said happily, riding on his cat-golem and everyone in the group approached him less Cloud.

Cloud, was watching the Black Materia when suddenly Sephiroth appeared levitating in front of him and asked him to give it to him. The blond man refused at first, but then he began to talk to himself and spastically advanced and handed it to Sephiroth before he fell unconscious.

By the time the group realized it was too late, as Sephiroth vanished into thin air.

"Let's take him to Gongaga." Wedge suggested. "There's a doctor there who doesn't work for Shinra."

.

.

When they arrived in Gongaga, the doctor could not explain what was wrong with Cloud, even Tifa told the doctor about the mental gaps and false memories of his friend, but the doctor could not do much.

Tifa offered to take care of Cloud as long as necessary until his friend regained consciousness, how bad Cloud was delirious and kept mentioning Aerith's name.

"Cloud, who are you in love with?" Percy asked an unconscious, delusional Cloud.

"Of... of Aerith" he answered every time Percy asked him the same question over and over again.

Of course, Percy did not ask him these questions innocently, but took advantage of the fact that he was near Cloud with Tifa behind him, pretending not to notice the presence of the woman.

Tifa glanced sideways at Percy, but made a decision in which she vowed not to lose her temper with a child, she would not allow herself to lose control as she did with Yuffie.

"Cloud, do you love Tifa?" Percy asked and Tifa was stunned.

"No... no, never." Tifa was stiff from the shock and when she reacted Percy had already slipped away.

Cloud woke up after a couple of days and was distressed to learn that Aerith had gone God knows where.

"I think I know where she might be, among other things," said Cloud and everyone looked at him in surprise.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	16. Revelations

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 16: Revelations**

Under the direction of Cloud, the group headed north and finally came to a kind of archaeological dig. The scientists, who were a mixture of archaeologists and paleontologists, told them they saw a woman with their friend's description, who entered the forest.

The group entered the forest and as the scientists warned them, they were lost.

"Don't worry, with my sense of smell we can get out of here," Percy reassured them and turned into a cat.

"I hope your sense of smell gets us out of here because my sharp snout is unbalanced in this place," Nanaki excused himself.

"Don't be afraid Rintintin, my nose is magical and I can trace Aerith's magical aura as she possesses certain magical traits."

They arrived at the ruins of a city, this was nothing like what they had seen before, the structures, although few, were of a respectable size and were built according to a biological pattern, trying to imitate the living structure of nature.

Percy rushed to where Aerith's trail led him. It grew strong as they walked down stairs that seemed to lead to a reservoir of water.

Aerith was in a kind of roundabout with columns and above it was Sephiroth who was already falling on her with his sword drawn.

Percy flew to Aerith, but the speed wasn't good enough.

"Faster!" he thought in milliseconds and suddenly huge wings sprouted on his back, but the speed wasn't enough.

"MAX SPEED!" shouted the winged cat and his flight increased at a dizzying rate.

The winged cat held the girl and threw her at her friends.

"PERCYYY!" Lydia shouted as she saw Sephiroth piercing Percy's body with his sword.

Sephiroth, with a flick of his sword, threw Percy's battered body into the water and then vanished into thin air, but not before leaving another monster to fight the group.

The monster was another part of Jenova and began to attack them, yet he was no match for the entire mini-army in front of him.

Lydia was holding Percy's inert body and the other members of the group were comforting her, so a meowing sound was heard and a cat began to walk down the stairs.

Percy's body began to turn to ashes and the cat coming down the stairs turned into a cat boy. It was Percy!

The other members of the group didn't believe their eyes and tried to ask Lydia what the hell was going on, but the girl went upstairs and hugged Percy.

"I have seven lives left," said Percy as he hugged Lydia, "damn Beetlejuice, damn Sephiroth, because of them I've already lost two lives."

Lydia explained to the group that Percy could not die so easily because he had several lives, but she was still dismayed to see her boyfriend's dead body.

"Aerith, what the hell were you thinking coming to this place alone?"

"I only wanted to stop Sephiroth," the florist defended herself.

"Did you even have a plan?" Jesse asked him, and Aerith bowed her head in shame.

"I don't believe it, how can anyone be so stupid!" Yuffie suddenly shouted, and Cloud got angry and came up to Aerith and stood between her and the girls.

"Forgive me!" I just wanted to protect Cloud, because, every time Cloud confronts Sephiroth he suffers! Aerith said and then she started to cry.

"Aerith, forgive me, you almost died because of my weakness," said Cloud, and everyone looked at him in surprise, because the blond man was not fond of speaking so gently.

"Cloud, I... I don't want to see you suffer."

"And I don't want anything bad to happen to you," said Cloud and then embraced her, making the oldest members of Avalanche open their mouths by surprise.

"I almost lost you and I, well, I couldn't stand it," Cloud said as he got up and tried to put on a bad-boy pose again.

Tifa saw everything with tearful eyes, but also with a smile as neither Aerith nor Percy died.

"Lydia, did you see how Cloud softened up and then went tough again?" whispered Percy.

"Yeah, that means he's acting this way on purpose?" Lydia whispered to him as she shook her head. "Oh Cloud, no wonder you don't talk much, but they'll find out that you're really a good boy and not the bad boy you pretend to be."

"I think it's too late for that," Percy said with a chuckle.

"Where are we going now?" said Cid, who started smoking his filthy cigar.

"Not in front of Lydia," Percy warned him and tore the cigar from his lips and threw it in the water.

Cid was furious but Wedge stepped in to stop a fight.

"We better go to the village of Icicles," Wedge said with authority, "according to what Cloud told us, we can find information about Sephiroth there."

Cloud grimaced, he did not know why Sephiroth's voice told him that he would go there, but shaking his head, he decided it was best not to think about it.

.

.

The group, after buying clothes to withstand the cold weather of Icicles, headed there. Once the seaplane reached the coast, everyone headed for the village without any setbacks, except for the occasional attacks of the local wolves.

Lydia trembled despite the warm clothes she was wearing, so Percy turned into a cat and climbed on her shoulder. Then his whole body stretched out and covered Lydia's torso and back, like a hairy vest.

"Thanks Percy, I feel better now," Lydia thanked him while the rest of the group looked impressed.

The group arrived in town and one of the villagers told Aerith that she looked just like a woman who used to live there.

"What happened to that woman?" Aerith asked.

"It was terrible, Shinra's men arrived with a scientist, I think his name was Hojo. They broke into Professor Gast's house, killed him, then took his wife Ifalna and their newborn daughter, no one knew what happened to them."

Aerith felt her legs fail, but she was held up at the last minute by Cloud.

Cloud asked the man where Professor Gast's house was and then they went to that place.

The group entered the house, which was actually a laboratory, which was still operational despite the weather and the abandonment.

"Look, here's some kind of old video," said Cait, and then he put this in a player for everyone to see.

The video showed them Professor Gast's theory that the planet used the lifestream to heal itself from potential damage such as a meteorite collision.

"Then the northern crater was the result of a meteorite impact," said Dyne.

"And the planet is still recovering from that disaster," continued Vincent.

The video also showed Aerith's real mother, Ifalna, telling the story of her race. Apparently Jenova came from space and invoked a meteorite that created the northern crater, then was defeated by the Aerith race, but at a high price. The video also explained how Hojo confused Jenova with another member of Aerith's race.

Aerith was shedding tears at the sight of her mother's image and Cloud comforted her.

Professor Gast and Aerith told how the planet created several giant monsters called Weapons to destroy Jenova, the people of Aerith destroyed Jenova before the planet resorted to freeing the monsters Weapon, but according to Ifalna, the giant monsters still lived, in a state of suspended animation, waiting for the moment when Jenova appeared.

"But we're already up against Jenova, so why didn't the monsters show up?" Biggs asked, but no one knew the answer.

The video showed how Hojo arrived at the lab and ordered Gast's death, and also took his recent wife Ifalna along with her newborn daughter.

Aerith collapsed and started to cry.

After leaving the laboratory they were confronted by one of the members of the Turks. Cloud, who wasn't in the mood to fight, decided to let the woman beat him.

"You and Sephiroth are connected in some way, and what happened to our boss is also your fault," said the woman and then left the place.

The group had to reach the northern crater, but the road was like a treacherous maze, so they turned to Percy for help and arrived safely at the base of the gigantic crater. Seeing that it would be dangerous to climb they asked Percy to take them and the poor cat had to do it, but this time he did it one by one and not at the same speed as before.

The caves were a veritable labyrinth and to the cat boy's disgrace, Percy had to help the group, luckily the effort paid off as they discovered that Sephiroth had left the Black Materia lying around.

"Nya, I guess I'm even with my karma now, with my law of triple strength, with my law of equivalence of exchanges!" Percy shouted happily.

"So let's charge it!" said the cat boy with a malicious smile and the other members of the group looked at him frowning.

The group felt that their luck was changing and they went to take the Black Materia, however, it was not abandoned, but a huge dragon had defeated Sephiroth and was now guarding the precious object.

The dragon was strong, but thanks to Lydia and Percy's tactics he was easily defeated and friends got the Black Materia.

"I have seen Sephiroth defeat dragons like this with a single stroke of his sword," Cloud said with awe, "I do not understand how he could be defeated."

"Perhaps the being we thought Sephiroth was not," said Nanaki, pointing to Jenova's remains that were devoured by the monster.

"Jenova is not supposed to be so powerful that the planet created the weapons to destroy it, in fact the entire Aerith race succumbed to achieve this," Yuffie replied.

"So far we've never faced Jenova," said Jesse, "only parts of Jenova."

"Did Sephiroth then give the materia to this part of Jenova to take care of, and then was it defeated by the dragon?" Tifa asked, but no one knew the answer.

The group took the Materia and continued their journey to Sephiroth.

The friends came to a high place, but they were not alone, several men covered in black cassocks and babbling the name of Sephiroth were also present.

"Look Lydia! How funy they are! Can we keep them?" Percy asked her, grabbing one of the hooded men.

"Sephiroth... go to... Sephiroth, call..."

"Percy, let go of that man!" Lydia urged him, but the cat boy was already starting to check it out.

"How strange Lydia, this guy has a tattoo on his arm, it's number 23," Percy said looking closely at the number.

"Go... to Sephiroth... go... go..."

"Percy let him go" Lydia insisted again.

"All right, Lydia," Percy agreed and let go of the hooded man, but he took two steps and made the perfect lemming fall into the abyss.

"But don't let him fall either!" Lydia scolded him.

"Then what do I do? All these guys seem to have played a lot of the lemmings game for their own good and now they have the spotlight fused," Percy said.

"Lydia is right, grab those guys," Wedge ordered, but the task was impossible because of the steepness of the place and the suicidal attitude of the hooded people.

Only Yuffie, with his ninja reflexes along with Percy and Nanaki, who had animal reflexes, succeeded in stopping some men, but the hooded ones twisted to free themselves and continue their suicidal march.

Suddenly Nanaki howled loudly and snuck out behind Tifa.

"Nanaki, what's wrong!" Tifa said strangely, but Nanaki did not respond, trembled and began to moan in fear.

Everyone in the group approached Nanaki who was still in that sorry state.

"What's wrong with Nanaki?" Barrett asked, but nobody knew what was wrong with his friend.

"Take it easy, Nanaki," asked Vincent in his characteristic calm voice.

"The hooded ones... were... were... were Cloud!" Nanaki shouted and began to moan.

"Explain yourself," said Dyne.

Nanaki told them that he took the hoods off three of the hooded men in order to control them better and saw that two were the same as Cloud and one was a guy like Cloud, but with black hair.

"I also took the hood off one," said Yuffie and described a guy who looked like Cloud but had black hair, the same as his friend described.

"What's going on, who are these guys and where did they come from?" Cid cried cursing more than ever but was interrupted by Sephiroth who mocked them.

The group wanted explanations, but Sephiroth spoke only cryptically.

"So you have feelings, too?" Sephiroth muttered in surprise at Cloud's reproaches and then vanished from the place, so the group had to face another part of Jenova.

After defeating the monster, the group wanted to descend to the crater, but Nanaki was very scared.

"All right, Lydia, Percy, you guys stay with Nanaki until we get back," Wedge ordered.

The two boys wanted to accompany their friends, but they could not leave Nanaki alone, so they accepted.

Wedge asked them and the group descended towards the crater.

The three friends waited for the group to return and Nanaki, who felt better, apologized.

"Don't worry, Nanaki," Percy said. "Look, take the Black Materia for your care."

Nanaki accepted happily and as soon as he took the Materia, a thick mist covered the three friends.

"What is this mist, I can't even see my hand moving it in front of my face!" exclaimed Lydia worried.

"What's going on, Lydia, where are you!" shouted Percy.

"Cloud, why did you come back? Where are the others?" They heard Nanaki say. Lydia and Percy shouted loudly at him, but apparently Nanaki couldn't hear them.

The fog lifted and the two boys saw Nanaki lying on the ground unconscious. When Nanaki woke up, he told them that Sephiroth told him everything.

Sephiroth actually died years ago when he went mad and burned the town of Nibelheim. It wasn't Cloud, it was Zack who killed Sephiroth, who fell into the lifestream. Sephiroth, however, did not fuse his body or consciousness with the lifestream, but wandered like a ghost and arrived at the northern crater where he hopes to be revived thanks to the help of the Black Materia.

"Then who were we chasing?" Lydia asked in surprise and Nanaki responded, trying to be as brief as possible.

The "Sephiroth" they were after was actually a part of Jenova who could change form and who was looking for the Black Materia to give to the true Sephiroth. He was able to control Jenova because he had been implanted with Jenova cells since he was in the womb. In fact, he could control every living thing that had Jenova cells implanted in its body, and those were the hooded ones, who were just clones of Cloud and Zack.

"Did he also explain to you about the clones?" Percy asked anxiously, and Nanaki continued to speak.

Zack, after being wounded by Sephiroth, rescued Cloud who was in Nibelheim. The blond man covered his face with a Shinra helmet because he was ashamed to return to his hometown because he was not able to be part of the elite of the Soldier as Sephiroth or Zack, but was a simple third category enforcer, that is, the lowest rank of Shinra's forces.

Tifa was rescued by martial arts master Zangan, while Zack and Cloud tried to flee but were captured by the Turks. Hojo destroyed the real Zack and Cloud and made several clones of them. However, a Zack clone rejected the system and rescued a clone of Cloud and tried to flee the scene. Zack's clone was killed, but the Cloud clone managed to escape in Midgar.

Lydia and Percy were open-mouthed but then recovered and decided to go to their friends along with Nanaki.

The three friends arrived at the rest of the group, who were with Rufus and Hojo, who also arrived at the site.

Apparently it was all over, Cloud was controlled by Sephiroth and the blond man himself handed over the Black Materia to Sephiroth who came back to life. To make matters worse, the monsters of the planet: Weapon, woke up from their lethargy with the aim of destroying JENOVA and their puppeteer Sephiroth, unfortunately, would destroy the humans in the process.

Rufus offered the group a ride on his ship and they had no choice but to accept. They had been saved from being crushed by the awakening of Weapon, but then cursed Rufus captured them using sleeping gas.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	17. Wedge's sacrifice

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 17: Wedge's sacrifice**

The group woke up and noticed to their indignation that they were bound in the same way as when they were imprisoned at Shinra's headquarters in Midgar. At least on that occasion, Rufus' father let them talk and then made fun of them, but Rufus ordered them to cover their mouths so they wouldn't say anything.

Rufus' ship headed for Junon and sent the 14 prisoners to the cells. There the group had more freedom as they removed their handcuffs and electric collars, and also stopped covering their mouths.

Junon had more cells than Shinra's main building in Midgar, so they weren't as tight as the last time. In the cells however, Lydia and Percy noticed the absence of Tifa and Cloud.

"Tifa hit her head and is in the prison infirmary," said Barrett.

"And Cloud?" Percy asked.

"When Weapon woke up from his sleep, the floor cracked and Cloud fell through one of the cracks," said Aerith, and then she started to cry. Jesse hugged her friend to comfort her.

"We didn't realize that Cloud fell through a crack," lamented Lydia, "it all happened so fast that we ran straight to Rufus' ship."

"I'm sorry," said Nanaki, "this is all my fault, if I hadn't handed over the Black Materia to Sephiroth, I mean Jenova, none of this would have happened."

"You don't have to blame yourself Nanaki, Lydia and I were also present and couldn't do anything about Jenova's tricks ," Percy comforted him.

"That's right, the fog cut off all attempts at movement and Jenova with his powers pretended to be Cloud," Lydia pointed out and then the three of them told their friends how Jenova, disguised as Cloud, stole the Black Materia from them.

The group exchanged a lot of information and found out about Sephiroth's plans.

With the black Materia Sephiroth, not only did he regenerate himself, but he would summon a meteorite that would collide with the planet, which would use enormous amounts of the vital current to regenerate itself, Sephiroth would use that energy to become a god, something that Jenova did not achieve before, and thus would rule the planet forever.

"Can you see the meteorite in the sky yet?" Lydia wanted to know, and everyone looked at the sky or the little they could see from their tiny windows.

"I can see it a little," said Percy, who had the sharpest vision of all, "but it will certainly be very visible to everyone in a week's time."

Percy tried to use his superhuman strength and escape in the shape of a cat, but like Midgar, it was impossible for him to escape.

Every day that passed the group tried to explain to the guards that they were only trying to save the planet and that it was best to let them go, but they were trained men and were not convinced. On the third day, Rufus himself went to see them and the group tried to talk some sense into him, but Rufus told them that they would rot in prison for the rest of their days.

"At least let the children go!" Wedge begged him, referring to Lydia, Yuffie, and Percy.

"I think I'll let little Morticia go," said Rufus with a laugh, "but the ninja and the cat boy are very troublesome. Those two will be in jail for a good couple of years until I break their spirits, in fact, they may even end up working for me."

On the fourth day, the friends begged the doctor to see Tifa, but the prison doctor told them that her friend was still unconscious, however, he granted them that one of the members could accompany her for a couple of hours, that member would be different every day.

On the fifth day of the encirclement, the meteorite was already visible everywhere in the world, but no one took notice of it as people thought it was a comet that would pass by. By the sixth day, however, people began to worry, as the meteorite seemed to be the size of a small moon and seemed to get closer by the hour.

After a week, panic spread around the world in two ways: first, the meteorite seemed to be the size of the moon; and second, the monster Weapon, unable to find either Jenova or Sephiroth, began to destroy several coastal cities.

That day it was Barrett's turn to go to Tifa, and after an hour a group of guards approached and took out Lydia, Yuffie, and Percy.

Yuffie was handcuffed with her hands behind her back, believing that because she was a child she would not pose any great danger.

As for Percy, he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and these handcuffs were also attached with a chain to the handcuffs that put him on his feet.

"They told us to watch out for you, pussycat," said one of the guards and then put the electric collar on him.

It was Lydia's turn, but she was removed without any security measures, as they were informed that she was not a combatant.

"What's going on?" Lydia questioned the three guards.

"President Rufus ordered the public execution of your friends."

"What, no!" Percy was forcing, but then he got a shock from the necklace.

"Percy!" Lydia shouted and tried to get close to the cat boy, but the guard stopped her.

"Why are you doing this!" Lydia shouted with tears in her eyes.

"Panic spreads all over the world because of the meteor and Weapon. Shinra must regain the trust of the people."

"You will tell everyone that Avalanche was responsible. Just as you told that it was Avalanche who was responsible for the collapse of sector 7 in Midgar," said Lydia who was outraged.

"You can't do that! You bastards! Monsters! Pigs!" Yuffie was twisting, but one of the guards silenced her with a blow to the stomach that took all the air out of her.

"Yuffie!" Lydia shouted this time.

"President Rufus saw that it would be negative for Shinra's image if three children were executed or if they rotted in a cell, so we will move you to Shinra's headquarters in Midgar."

"So we'll be locked in the building like the mayor of Midgar," Lydia concluded, clenching her fists to the side.

"Yes, you will be under some sort of house arrest," one of the guards explained to them, when all the alarms sounded at the base, it seemed that Weapon was approaching Junon.

Lydia took advantage of the distraction and removed the paralytic stick from one of the guards and then knocked him unconscious with it.

The other guard charged Lydia but Percy knocked him down with his body and both received the electric shock of the collar, which knocked the guard unconscious while Percy endured the pain.

The third guard pulled out his gun and was about to shoot Percy, but Yuffie, who had no handcuffs on her feet, kicked him and knocked the man out.

Lydia released her friends and they were about to escape, but in that moment they heard several frightened steps approaching them, fortunately they turned out to be their friends.

"Guys, how did you get out!" Yuffie asked in awe.

"It was Cait Sith and Barrett," Biggs told them, and they all rushed to the base airfield when they felt the base cannon firing.

"We'd better hurry," said Jesse.

"Where are the others!" exclaimed Lydia as only Jesse, Aerith, Biggs, and Vincent were with them.

"The others went to prepare a ship provided by Cait," said Aerith.

"That Cait Sith will give us a ship?" Percy asked.

"Apparently he denied his spy status," said Vincent, who smiled at the three children and the adults were surprised.

Friends arrived at the airfield and watched as Nanaki, Dyne and Wedge waited for them.

"Good thing you found them," howled Nanaki, wagging his tail happily.

"We were worried about you," said Dyne, who smiled for the first time to the surprise of those present.

"Now that we're all here, let's get out of this place," Wedge breathed in relief, hugging her cousin and they rushed off to a ship.

Barrett, Cid and Cait Sith were waiting for them on the ship.

"Thank God for this!" Barrett shouted, hugging the three children.

"We didn't know where you were taken," said Cid, who looked relieved, but the most amazing thing is that he didn't utter a swear word.

"Lydia, Yuffie, Percy," he muttered looking at the floor, "I wanted to remedy what I did, so I gathered the crew of Cid's rocket and put them in operation on this ship that was once mine."

"Thank you, Cait," Lydia reassured him.

"One more thing," added Cait Sith and his cat-golem searched his belly pocket.

"Do you have a magic pocket like the other robotic Doraemon cat?" Percy asked.

"Here it is," said Cait and handed Lydia her old cameras. "It's all there, even your camera rolls."

Lydia hugged the two robots and thanked them.

"Well, let's go rescue Tifa," said Cid to his men and they all went to work.

The ship, called Highwind, rose from the airfield and headed for the base's giant canyon, as far as they could see, her friend Tifa was at the top of the canyon, cornered by Scarlet and Shinra's soldiers.

The friends went out on the deck of the ship and shouted at Tifa to jump.

Tifa gained momentum and jumped to the ship, but it was obvious that she would not make it.

"Tie the other side of the rope!" Wedge shouted to them as he tied a rope around his chest and then jumped into the void.

Percy, who was the one with the fastest reflexes, tied the rope with just the right amount of time as it tightened right after.

Tifa thought she was going to die but Wedge hugged her against his body with his arms and legs.

Wedge looked at her with an expression of trust and affection and both were taken up to the deck.

"Wedge, that was great!" His friends praised him, but Wedge bent over and began to vomit blood in appalling quantities, he had broken his ribs.

Friends took him inside and the ship flew away from the place because Weapon was attacking Junon.

The cannon at the base fired right at the head of the giant monster and severed it.

"Do you think Weapon died? Cid asked Aerith.

"I don't know, maybe he did, or maybe he'll regenerate. There is also the possibility that more Weapons may exist."

"Why didn't Weapon locate Jenova or Sephiroth?" Dyne asked.

"From what I heard the soldiers say," Vincent said. "Sephiroth placed a kind of barrier around the northern crater, which is impenetrable and hides the presence of those two to Weapons."

"I'd better check on Wedge," Barrett decided and hurried to the ship's infirmary.

What Barrett saw when he arrived at the infirmary he didn't like at all, Wedge had lost all his color and everyone saw Wedge as if he wasn't going to recover. Lydia and Tifa cried inconsolably.

"This looks bad, Barrett," said Biggs worried, "we need to get him to a doctor and quickly."

"How bad is it?" Barrett asked.

"He broke a lot of ribs and is vomiting blood, which means his lung was punctured. But that's not what's worrying," said Biggs, and Barrett looked at Biggs in fear as the man took the giant aside so the girls wouldn't listen.

"He broke his sternum in two, between you and me, I don't think he'll make it," said Biggs, biting his lip.

Barrett would digest the bitter news when a commotion behind him caught his attention, Wedge had awakened.

Friends tried to talk to him but Barrett yelled at them to get away from him.

"Barret," he called him Wedge agonizing, "take care of the others, leader... save the planet..."

Barrett nodded and Lydia cried and approached Tifa.

"Tifa, please save my cousin!"

"Lydia, what can I do?"

"Talk to him! You be his strength!"

Tifa approached Wedge and asked him not to give up.

"All right... I'll live, only if you ask me..."

"I ask you, Wedge," Tifa begged him with tears on her face, "please stay with us... Stay with me."

Wedge smiled at Tifa and nodded, then closed his eyes.

"He's just sleeping," Percy reassured them, seeing the other people's expressions of shock and hugged Lydia again.

"Is there no place we can take him?" Dyne asked.

"We could take him to Mideel, there are good doctors there and it's the closest place to the ship," Vincent told them.

"Barret?" said Jesse as s wiped away the tears, waiting like all the others for their leader's orders.

"Cid, Captain, take us to Mideel at once!" Barrett shouted through the intercom in the infirmary and the ship left quickly.

.

.

The ship arrived at Mideel and took Wedge to the hospital.

"Put him on that bed," said the doctor, and he started checking on Wedge.

"We have to operate on this man immediately," said the man and they took Wedge to the operating room.

After several hours the doctor informed them that the operation was a success and that they could see their friend the next day.

Wedge was in a two-bedded room, the patient next door was covered in a curtain and seemed to babble constantly.

"It's strange," Percy said after a while in the room, "the smell of medicine clouds my senses, but I could swear that Cloud is here next door."

"Don't joke about it," Aerith said angrily, but Percy stepped forward and went to draw the curtain.

"It's CLOUD!" Percy shouted and there was a stir in the room.

The nurse went into the room and began to scold the friends for causing such a fuss, but they explained that they did not expect to see their blond friend in the same hospital room.

The nurse told them that the patient suddenly appeared on the beach unconscious and that according to the doctor he was in a catatonic state due to mako energy poisoning.

Friends debated and assumed that Cloud was transported there by the lifestream. Aerith hugged Cloud while she cried, Tifa looked at the hurt scene with a look of resignation.

.

.

The next day, friends were discussing what they would do next, when Aerith and Tifa told them to do whatever they decided, they would stay in the hospital to take care of Cloud and Wedge.

Cait Sith told them about Rufus' plans, it seems that the lunatics wanted to use some things called huge Materia to destroy the meteor, the problem is that they could destroy the planet if they didn't do it well, and apparently they were willing to sacrifice the populations in which these huge Materia were found.

"What the hell is going on with these guys!" Jesse shouted furiously, "they could get the huge Materia without killing the population."

"Remember that we are talking about Shinra," Barrett said with a dark expression, "they are the kind of people who first shoot and then ask permission to enter, I know... I have seen it."

At the end of the meeting, Barret decided to make Cid the new leader, because he is the captain of the Highwind, and he accepted with the usual insults of rigor.

Lydia and Percy also decided to stay in Mideel to take care of Wedge and Cloud, and help out in whatever it was to Tifa and Aerith, so the rest of the group went to the ship and left to stop Shinra.

In the days that followed, Wedge deliriously called Tifa and babbled so that she would be all right or take care of herself.

"Tifa... don't die... Tifa..."

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	18. Lydia's power

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 18: Lydia's power**

Thanks to the healing potions, Wedge had a noticeable improvement, but had to use a wheelchair for the time being, as did Cloud, although the blond still had no improvement.

The Highwind returned with the group and they told them that they had protected the people of Corel and the fort condor from Shinra's attack, and had also obtained the huge Matter that was in those places.

Percy was watching the huge Materia with attention when screams were heard in the street.

"It's Weapon! He's coming to destroy everything! Let's get out of here!"

"Tifa, Aerith! Stay here and protect Wedge and Cloud!" Cid commanded as he cursed high and mighty.

"Weapon has a titanic size, what are we going to do?" Nanaki shouted.

"We can do nothing but defend this place," Yuffie said with courage.

"But we can't win only with will," said Cait in a frightened voice, despite the fact that his controller was safe in Midgar.

"We must sacrifice ourselves to save our friends," Dyne said resolutely.

"It is not necessary for someone to die," suddenly Percy said. "Lydia, do you think you can use 'Magic Tsunami'?"

"I'm sure, however, I won't be able to use that power immediately, I need you to buy me some time," Lydia asked decisively.

"You heard, Lydia has a plan, but we need to give her time! "Percy shouted at them.

"We don't have any more!" shouted Vincent.

"Then let's get something out of that son of a...!" Cid ordered and the whole group went to the place where the monster descended and set out to face him.

It seemed crazy to face such a colossus, yet they applied the tactics of Lydia and Percy. The ten friends, instead of fighting in threes or fours, all attacked together at once and without taking turns, they also surrounded the monster instead of attacking it head-on.

Fortunately, in Weapon, what was left over in size was lacking in his brain, as it was like attacking Shinra's robot that confronted them on the cut highway. Each time the monster prepared to attack, it would take a blow from either side or from the back and then turn around to confront its attacker. This process was constantly repeated, and the group began to become more confident.

"Look, Lydia's attack is coming!" Percy pointed to what appeared to be a gigantic tsunami approaching the group and everyone was scared.

"Fear not, Lydia's attack only harms the enemy!" Percy explained to them to reassure them, and in effect, the tsunami defeated Weamon, without harming anyone in the group.

"Unbelievable, not even the buildings in the village were damaged," said Barrett with his mouth open.

Friends began to celebrate and praise Lydia when an earthquake shook the whole place.

"Girls, get out of the hospital!" shouted Biggs and watched as Tifa and Aerith carried their friends in the wheelchairs as fast as they could, yet the floor opened and they were swallowed up by it.

"Cid, we have to do something!" Lydia shouted, but the tremors continued.

"Now we can't do anything, let's wait until the tremors are over!" Cid shouted.

Once the tremor was over, the friends went towards the fissure, but they could not see their friends.

"What shall we do now," said Dyne.

"Cloud came to this place thanks to the lifestream, maybe the four of them are still around," said Vincent, worried and breaking his monotone voice.

The whole group split up to look for them and were found by Yuffie.

The four friends were unconscious, in the middle of a lifestream fountain and Yuffie had to take them out one by one.

When she finished, she called her other companions and they tried to revive their four friends, to their surprise, no one seemed to be hurt, even Wedge and Cloud had recovered from their injuries.

"It seems that the life current energy healed our friends," said Nanaki.

Cloud was a little confused, but apologized to the group for handing over the Black Materia to Sephiroth.

"You weren't to blame Cloud, you were being controlled" Aerith encouraged him.

"Within the lifestream," Cloud said, "I was finally able to recover several of my memories and discard those that were false. I was living a lie and I knew it from the beginning, I refused to accept reality and because of that everything ended so badly with the meteorite and Weapon destroying everything."

"I may not be the real Cloud, but somehow I intend to make Shinra pay for everything it did to me and Zack," Cloud ended and put his hand on Aerith's shoulder, nodding with a sad smile.

"So Wedge, where are we going now?" Yuffie asked him.

"Cait Sith?" Wedge asked the robot.

"The other huge materia is in the submarine reactor of Junon, the best thing to do is to head towards that place."

"You heard Cid, straight to Junon," Wedge commanded with authority.

The ship moved the group to Junon and the friends took an elevator that took them below sea level to a submarine complex.

After the attack by Weapon, the situation in Junon was totally chaotic, no one controlled the accesses to the fortress and they reached an underground submarine pier.

At this pier, the Turks were in charge of putting one of the huge materias into a submarine.

"Stupid Turks, you better hand over the stuff and go take refuge in the skirts of your master. Shu, shu!" Percy said to them, while he waved his hand as if he wanted to scare them away, as if they were dogs.

The suits guys did not confront the group, but threw a robot at them, while they dispatched the submarine and then fled the place.

When the combat was over, the group crossed the pier and "borrowed" another submarine and chased the Shinra submarine that had the huge Materia, managing to take it away from them, unfortunately, another huge Materia was in Shinra's possession and they took it to the rocket city.

The friends went after the huge Materia and when they reached rocket city, they discovered that Palmer, who had survived the collision with the truck had put the huge Materia on Cid's rocket. His plan was to launch this one and crash it into the meteorite.

"That's my rocket!" Cid shouted, throwing the thickest insults to date.

"If the rocket takes off, it will destroy the whole village with its inhabitants," said Cloud.

"Okay," said Cid, "this is my rocket, and I'll get it back. This time it will be the real adults who will take care of it. Vincent, Dyne, Barrett and I will take over, the rest of you will evacuate the people of the village if we don't succeed."

"I am a robot, and I can link up with the rocket computer, let me go with you!" asked Cait.

"And I'm an engineer in combustion engines, I can be of help to you," said Biggs.

"S... it's okay, but just the two of you, the rest of you go work like I told you!" Cid ordered them.

Cid and his group went to the rocket and the rest called the population and explained the situation, so they all went out to the outskirts of town.

"Wedge, Shera's not in the house!" Nanaki informed him.

"Maybe she's on the rocket," said Wedge, who with his friends and villagers was on the outskirts of the village waiting for the worst.

"Guys, look! The rocket's taking off!" Tifa shouted to them

The rocket that had previously activated its straightening mechanism began to rise, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

The whole town was destroyed either by the force of the rocket's acceleration or by the flames that came out of the engine. The villagers hugged and cried because before their eyes all their life's work and their possessions vanished into the chaos of destruction.

Wedge and his group were also concerned, but for their friends.

"Do you think the guys will make it?" Jesse asked Aerith.

"Don't worry, Jesse, they'll come back safely somehow," said her friend.

The rocket had been lost in the sky and only the trail of smoke it left behind remained, increasingly difficult to see why the night was falling, when the sky was lit up with an explosion.

The luminosity faded and the meteor, though cracked, was on its deadly course toward the planet.

Jesse started to cry on Aerith's shoulder, but Percy caught the attention of the group.

"I see something falling towards the shore... I think it's... an escape pod," Percy said, forcing his eyes to the limit.

"Come on, let's go!" Wedge ordered and the group went to the Highwind to rescue their friends.

The ship lifted the escape pod with a crane and everyone could see that their friends were safe, even Shera was safe with them!

The capsule door opened and the friends came down one by one, but when Biggs came down, Jesse pounced on him and kissed him.

"Idiot, I was so worried!" she scolded him with tears peeking through her eyes as everyone looked at the scene with eyes like plates.

"Don't ever volunteer for something this dangerous again! You don't see that I love you and I couldn't bear to lose you," said Jesse as she caressed the man's face.

"Emmm, I think I should be the one to say this," said Biggs, blushing.

"Of course you should say it, but for some stupid reason, every man in this place plays the bad guy and plays the tough guy!" complained Jesse.

"I'm sorry, but it's not just the boys who are stubborn, some girls don't put their ideas in order," said Biggs and looked at Tifa without any disguise.

"Aren't you gonna hug her, Biggs?" Percy asked him.

Biggs frowned at him, but then calmed his expression and, looking at Jesse tenderly, gave him a passionate kiss under everyone's happy gaze.

"Well, they already fell and..." said Barrett smiling like a Totoro as he turned his eyes and posed in Cloud and Aerith along with Wedge and Tifa, "well, they already fell! And two more to go!"

"Why don't Shera and Cid go out?" Lydia asked and everyone went to see what was holding those two back.

Inside the capsule, Cid was crying on his knees and hugging Shera at the waist.

"Forgive me Shera! You were right about the rocket malfunction! And all these years I've treated you like a p...!"

"Captain..."

"I promise I'll make it up to you somehow... I'll stay with you forever!" Cid whimpered, crying like a little boy.

"Cid, I don't need you to make it up to me," said Shera and Cid saw her surprised because the woman used his name.

"I was deceiving myself, I was telling myself that I was by your side to make it up to you, but I was really by your side because I fell in love with you at first sight."

"Shera..."

"But in the end I realized that I was hurting myself with that attitude, waiting for unrequited love. In the end, when Palmer came to me and told me to repair the rocket, I accepted not for you, but for myself, to finally close that bitter chapter of my life. I guess I can be a woman again and look ahead and smile, but I'm not young anymore and even if I still have the chance to reach for love, it won't be as easy, it won't be like before."

"Cid," said Shera with a gentle smile, "I'm glad you've achieved your dream, but now let me go for me to reach mine."

The group decided to move away from those two and give them the appropriate space.

"How curious," said Biggs, "from a joyful moment we went on to a sad one."

"That's why we have to value what we have," said Jesse, hugging Biggs' arm more tightly and giving him the warmest smile he'd ever had.

.

.

The group went to Cosmo Canyon and handed over the huge Materia to Bugenhagen, who told them they had to retrieve from the depths of the ocean the key of the elders, an artifact that would give them clues to save the planet.

"It would take us years to look for something like that in the vastness of the oceans," said Nanaki.

"I could use the tarot cards to find out the exact location of the key," Lydia offered.

"Please do so, Lydia," Barrett asked with a smile, remembering how he didn't believe in Lydia's powers at first.

Lydia told them that they should go north, near the village of bones, and that they would find the key there.

The group left Shera at Cosmo Canyon and returned to Junon and with the help of "their" submarine, were able to find the key, which they handed over to Bugenhagen on their return.

Shera, who was delighted with the Observatory of Bugenhagen, decided to stay there while Bugenhagen accompanied the group to the city of the elders.

In the city of the elders, Bugenhagen activated the key and a mechanism in the city showed them that Aerith's White Materia had the power to stop the meteorite.

"Thank you Mother, thank you for giving me the White Materia, with it we can invoke the Sacred One, the energy that will save the planet from the meteorite," said Aerith in prayer.

When the group left the city of the elders the Highwind informed them that they had located another Weapon, it was on its way to Midgar.

As if that were not enough, Cait Sith informed them that Rufus had had Junon's cannon dismantled and moved it to Midgar. Using the mako energy from all the reactors in each section of the city, he would fire the cannon into the northern crater, thus destroying the barrier that protected Sephiroth.

"But if they do that they will affect the inhabitants by the exposure of mako energy!" shouted Tifa.

"Yes, what about Marlene!" Barrett shouted and Cait reassured him that his operator had moved Marlene and Aerith's mother to a safe place.

This brought more questions than answers for Barrett and Dyne, so the group had to explain to them about Cait Sith's betrayal.

Cait Sith regrets Shinra's decisions and revealed that it is Reeve, who remotely controls the two Cait Sith robots: the cat and his mount.

The two giants were very angry with the robot, but as Wedge told them, now was not the time for arguments or fights, as they had to defeat Weapon.

"Well, we'll use the same strategy we used in Mideel," Wedge reported, "we'll buy time for Lydia to use her power against the monster."

Formulated the plan, the Highwind headed towards Midgar; however, to their horror, Weapon had not headed for the mainland, but stopped in front of the beach and from his body several electric shocks erupted which were directed against Midgar. At the same time, the cannon was firing at Weapon and it went through the monster, following the discharge until it got lost in the horizon.

"What the hell was that!" shouted Dyne.

"Unbelievable, the volley destroyed Weapon in a single blast," said Vincent.

Weapon had been destroyed, but not before its discharges had impacted Shinra's building.

"Bad news, folks!" said Cait said, "Shinra's building was badly damaged and there is no news of Rufus. Heidegger and Scarlet, have taken over and don't give a damn that the city's reactors are overheating and about to explode."

"But if that happens..." Lydia whispered.

"That's right, the whole city will disappear," said Cait, "of course those two don't care, because Shinra's building with its massive size will withstand the explosion."

Everyone began to scream in disgust, but Cait Sith interrupted them.

"If case the above wasn't bad enough, Hojo went crazy and is trying to give Sephiroth all the mako energy of the place to regenerate the barrier of the northern crater that was destroyed by the cannon shot."

"Can't you do anything, Reeve?" Tifa asked him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm stuck in the cells and I can't do anything, the only thing I can do is control this robot by remote control thanks to my neural interface."

"What will we do Wedge?" Tifa asked him.

"We have no choice, we must go to Midgar and stop all those madmen... or die trying."

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	19. The end of the first love

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 19: The end of first love**

There was little time to save the city of Midgar and to make matters worse, they had to go to two very different places: the first, the mako reactor controllers in the basements of Shinra barracks; and the second, Hojo's laboratory at the top of the building.

"Well, we'll split into two groups," Wedge said. "Jesse, Biggs, Barrett, Dyne and Cid are going to stop the reactor overload. Tifa, Cloud, Vincent, Nanaki and I will go to Hojo and stop him."

The other members of the group protested but Wedge told them to shut up.

"Aerith, Yuffie, Cait Sith and Percy will go to the cells to free Reeve. You Lydia stay at the Highwind and I won't take a no for an answer. If you see that the reactor is about to explode, you're off with the Aerith team," Wedge ordered.

"Aerith," Wedge suddenly said, "I know you have unfinished business with Hojo about Zack and your real parents, but I need you to rescue Reeve because he knows where Marlene and your mother are. Barrett, I know you want to go with Aerith because of Marlene, but you and your group have some knowledge of machinery. The rest of us will go settle up with Hojo."

"But you have no accounts to settle with Hojo," said Cloud.

"You are mistaken, Hojo, he is responsible for creating Sephiroth, because of him Sephiroth eventually went mad and took away the most precious things from Tifa, Hojo is the real one responsible for making Tifa cry... I will never forgive him for that," said Wedge with an expression that implied to everyone that he would not accept criticism or replies.

"Wedge, thank you, I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough. Because of me you got hurt," Tifa apologized looking at Wedge.

"What are you talking about? If it was your strength that made me reach to Mideel and then get safe out of surgery. In fact, I apologize to you."

"Why should you apologize?" Tifa asked him with a strange surprise.

"For never having been your knight defender, all I can hope to do is to be your knight avenger," Wedge said, looking Tifa straight in the eyes and then there was a pause.

"Ass... You turned out to be a good leader! Didn't you say we didn't have time? Mor..." Cid shook his head.

"You're right, captain, well, let's get going, let's get the parachutes and go into Midgar," said Wedge and everyone got ready to jump.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself Percy," Lydia begged and cuddled him.

"Don't worry, our group's mission is simple compared to Jesse or Tifa's group," Percy reassured her and then kissed Lydia with passion.

"You too, promise you'll take care of yourself," Aerith said to Cloud and then kissed him.

Cloud was surprised and smiled at the girl, nodding his head like a child.

The entire group parachuted into their respective missions.

.

.

Aerith, Yuffie and Cait Sith landed softly, but a soldier of Shinra was already on them.

Yuffie who was the group's warrior enlisted to fight, however, it was not necessary as Percy fell on the soldier.

"I don't need a parachute," said Percy.

"Is he dead?" Aerith asked.

"I needed something to fall on," said Percy loose.

"You like this very much. right, Percy?" Yuffie said smiling with her eyes closed and shaking her head. "Well, so do I."

"It would be best if we listened to Lydia and didn't kill anyone," said Aerith.

"We have no time to lose, follow me," said Cait Sith suddenly and the group went to the cell area.

The group following Cait Sith was already very close to the cells, when they suddenly met the Turks.

"This time we won't let you pass, especially you, kitten," said the Turks, who apparently decided to gather all their members for this fight.

"This doesn't look good, we're far outnumbered," Aerith said.

"Take it easy Aerith," Percy told her, "remember that Yuffie is a ninja and I'm worth a whole army, and Cait Sith is a robot so he doesn't know the fear or pain factor. You just take care of the healing and everything will be fine."

The battle began and was fierce, it seemed the Turks had learned the tactics of Lydia and Percy and this made things difficult for the group. However, as Percy said, everything was going well, but when the battle was already over...

"KYIAAA!" Percy shouted loudly in his panther's form, as one of the Turks pierced him with a spear that was apparently poisoned.

"Damn it... that suit girl was beautiful, with long black hair and ponytails, and it had black eyes, it reminded me of Lydia... It was a second of distraction..." said Percy transformed into cat boy.

"Lean on my idiot," Yuffie said, "and cover yourself for God's sake."

.

.

Far away from them, Jesse's group was near the valves that controlled the flow of mako energy to the city's reactors.

"I can't believe it, all men are idiots!" Jesse screamed out of her mind as they went towards their goal.

"It's no big deal Jesse," Biggs tried to calm her down.

"It's no big deal, going into the rough, the beast, isn't it enough?" She said indignantly. "All of Shinra's soldiers heard us for miles around!"

"Look on the bright side," said Barrett.

"What positive side?!" shouted Jesse.

"He means that with all the racket, we set off the alarms and all the guards are here for sure," said Cid, who was upset because he couldn't light his cigar with all the running, "so the other two groups didn't meet up with Shinra's soldiers.

"By the way, that's a very good aim, Dyne'' said Biggs, to change the subject since Jesse was snorting with anger.

"It's true, Dyne, you hit all the guards, without killing them," Barrett said proudly of his friend.

"I promised Lydia I wouldn't kill anyone else," said Dyne, who smiled again to the surprise of others.

The group was approaching the control valves, when they suddenly felt the steps of something large and heavy approaching them.

It was Heidegger and Scarlet who apparently had a new toy.

"What the... is that?" Cid spat out looking at a robotic mass that was intimidating.

Shinra's two executives came out of the robot's control pods and challenged them to defeat them.

"Damn it... it was you who destroyed Corel," shouted Barrett.

"And the one who caused me to lose my arm," said Dyne.

"Let's get it over with these ass..." said Cid, who had already finished lighting his cigar.

Heidegger and Scarlet, they got into the robot and the fight started.

"Biggs, Jesse!" Cid shouted, "You children stabilize the pressure of the valves, let the adults take care of these valves..."

The two young men went to the valves and began their work, the robot charged them for a moment but the other three giants pissed off the Shinra with their attacks and decided to put an end to those three annoying first.

"Heidegger, Scarlet! In the name of Miss Lydia, in the name of justice, surrender! To be brought before a judge and pay for your crimes," Dyne shouted to them with authority.

The two defeated Shinra after the combat, responded with the robot's self-destruct mechanism, planning to kill their opponents.

"Guys, get out of there!" Jesse yelled at them.

.

.

Unbeknownst to the explosion that was happening in the basements, Tifa's group was approaching Hojo's laboratory. Due to the distraction of Jesse's team, they did not face any guards, but had to destroy a multitude of surveillance robots.

"My sense of smell tells me that Hojo is in front of that door," said Nanaki.

Friends exchanged glances and entered Hojo's lab with determination.

"What do we have here? If it's just the faults," Hojo grumbled, looking at the guys with disgust.

"We're no failures," Cloud replied with hatred.

"Especially you, you don't even have a number," said Hojo without flinching.

"Damn you, you'll pay for Lucrezia's murder," hissed Vincent.

"And for capturing me mad scientist," Nanaki growled.

"Crazy? I'm not a madman! But a father concerned about the survival of his son... my son Sephiroth."

"Are you Sephiroth's father?" Tifa asked in amazement.

"My son, he doesn't know I'm his father... always despising me. I wonder how he will react when he learns the truth... but it doesn't matter now, the only thing that matters is that I give him the mako energy of the city, so that the barrier that protects him will regenerate..." Said Hojo, but he was silenced by the discharge of Vincent's gun, which pierced his chest.

Hojo put his hands to his chest, incredulous at the thought of being wounded, but then he began to move with spasms and then his body mutated into a monstrous form.

"I think Hojo injected himself with Jenova's genes," Wedge said.

Hojo became a huge abomination and attacked the five comrades.

Vincent became his animal form and the rest of the companions also attacked using his special attacks, in the end, the monster was shot down.

"Tifa, are you hurt?" Wedge asked when he noticed that her friend had a cut on her leg.

"Don't worry, Wedge, I'm fine," replied Tifa but in that moment was pushed by Wedge when he noticed how the monster had mutated and rushed towards Tifa.

"WEDGE, NOOO!"

.

.

At the Highwind, Lydia was nervous about the wait.

"They should be here by now, what's taking them so long!"

"Don't worry, Miss Lydia, they'll be here any minute," one of the crew members reassured her.

The man was right as some members of the group were approaching.

"That's Jesse's group!" Lydia informed the crew and the men brought the ship to the building's helipad.

The three oldest members were injured and helped by Jesse and Biggs.

"The damned Heidegger and Scarlet detonated the self-destruct mechanism of their fuse and almost killed these three," Biggs explained to Lydia, referring to Barrett, Dyne and Cid.

"Miss Lydia, the Wedge group has just arrived at the helipad," one of the crew members told her.

The five friends entered the ship, but Cloud and Vincent had been carrying Wedge who had an ugly wound on the left side of his torso.

"It was my fault, Wedge protected me with his body when Hojo, transformed into a monster, tried to kill me."

"Don't say that, Tifa," Nanaki told her to comfort her, and then they took Wedge to the infirmary with the other wounded.

Lydia went to the ship's bridge but still no word from Aerith's group.

"Still no word from Aerith?" Cloud asked her nervously and Lydia only shook her head as tears began to show in her eyes.

When Cloud was on his way out of the ship's bridge to look for Aerith, the missing friends entered the building's helipad.

Apparently Percy had been wounded because Cait Sith's cat-golem was carrying him.

"Don't worry Lydia, he was wounded with a poisoned gun, but it's nothing that can't be fixed," Yuffie reassured her and then they took Percy to the infirmary.

As Cid was in the infirmary, it was Jesse who took the ship away from Shinra's building.

"You rescued Reeve?" Biggs asked.

"Yes, not only to him, but also to the burgomaster of the city," Nanaki told him.

"And where are they?" Biggs asked.

"Reeve went to try to calm the situation in Shinra and with the Turks," Nanaki replied, "I suppose now that Rufus and Shinra's top executives are dead he will take over."

The mayor of Midgar went to the city to try to control the panic of the people because of the presence of Weapon and the firing of the giant cannon," Aerith told them, "don't worry, Marlene and my mother are safe in Kalm.

"I guess this is the end of Shinra," said Yuffie.

"The evil influence of Shinra will not end until Sephiroth is defeated, but now that the northern crater barrier is gone we can face him," said Cait Sith suddenly to them.

"First we have to wait for our friends to recover," Cloud told them.

.

.

The healing potions healed the friends and they decided to go to the northern crater to see if it was true that the barrier that protected the place had disappeared.

"We have to hurry, the meteor is getting closer and closer," said Tifa and everyone looked up to the sky, the meteor was already three times bigger than the moon and getting closer and closer to the planet.

"I'd like to go to Midgar first and meet Marlene," Barrett told them.

"I'd like to go to the city and meet my daughter too," said Dyne.

"Guys, I'm going to Midgar too, to check on my mother," continued Aerith.

"I understand, anyone who has something to do first can do it," Wedge said sympathetically.

"I want to go see my grandfather and say goodbye to my father," said Nanaki.

"Percy and I are going to see my father and my stepmother," said Lydia, a little frightened, and the cat boy took her by the hand to cheer her up.

"I want to go to Wutai and see my dad," asked Yuffie.

"I'm going to see Lucrezia's grave," said Vincent.

"Well, I'll take you on my ship and after a week I'll return to this point with you inside or not," Cid said to them, "I'd like to go to Cosmo Canyon and say goodbye to that hard-headed Shera as well."

Cloud approached Tifa and took her aside so that no one would hear him.

"Tifa, I... I'd like to go with Aerith."

"I know, Cloud, ever since you met her in the church garden, I knew this moment would come."

"Thank you, Tifa, if it had not been for you I would never have left the lifestream, I would never have accepted the truth of "my memories"."

"It is Aerith who you have to thank, now I know that your meeting was not accidental, in the end she called you from the vital current and you came to her call."

"Tifa, I will never be able to pay you for taking care of me from the first day we met in Midgar, thank you for everything, thank you for putting up with me," Cloud said and then went to the ship to meet Aerith.

The Highwind was taking off and Tifa began to cry, but at the same time she had enough courage to bid her friends farewell with her arm outstretched and moving it happily.

Apart from Tifa, also Jesse, Biggs, Wedge and Cait Sith stayed. The friends set up a camp and set out to spend the week in the company of their deepest thoughts.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	20. True love

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 20: True love**

During the week Cait Sith who had nothing to do was disconnected by Reeve, leaving the four friends at ease.

"Is something wrong, Tifa?" Wedge asked her when she saw her friend with a sad look on her face.

"It's nothing Wedge, I was just watching Jesse and Biggs are all right candy in the back."

"Well, I'm happy for those two, although it's a little disturbing to see Biggs so smiling and dazed."

"You're right, Biggs always acted like the tough guy in the movie, just like Cloud."

"You know Tifa, when I met Cloud, I was very impressed, I mean, he said he had belonged to Soldado."

"But Cloud never belonged to Soldado."

"I know Tifa, what I mean is that I put Cloud on a pedestal, but in the end Cloud's cool attitude was just an escape from the fear he always carried with him."

"I remember that Cloud was very shy when I first met him, but after the accident in which I was in a coma for a week, he changed completely. That cool attitude and the cool attitude he had when he joined Avalanche were like a child's... I should have realized it sooner, so Cloud wouldn't have suffered with his false memories."

"There was nothing you could have done, if you had pressed him for sure he would have run away. I think you did very well from day one, and in fact in the end you helped Cloud to accept his true memories. You're great Tifa, I'm really sorry that in the end Cloud, well, that he and Aerith..."

"Don't worry, Wedge."

"I'm sorry, Tifa, I don't have the wood of a knight in shining armor, in the end I always end up ruining everything."

"Don't say that Wedge, you're an extraordinary leader, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have come so far, besides I'm not as bitter as I look, I'm happy for Aerith and Cloud."

"Really?"

"When the four of us were in the lifestream, I could see everyone's mind including my own. Cloud always wanted to approach me since I was a child, but those were the feelings of a child, what Cloud feels for Aerith instead, are the feelings of an adult, feelings already mature and defined."

"Tifa..."

"Your feelings Wedge also came to me. Strong, beautiful and pure feelings. Of the four of us, I still stand as a child, playing at being the girlfriend of someone who doesn't even notice me, playing at being the savior of that man who was so confused at heart, playing at being the super-powerful girl who could rescue Cloud from the bottom of the abyss... how stupid I am."

"Don't say that, Tifa, if there's a child here, it's me. I was always limited to tell you how much I liked you, I didn't want to contradict you at all and in the end I ended up overweight because of my damn shyness. In the end I wouldn't have done anything for myself if it hadn't been for the help of Lydia and Percy... Yes, in the end I couldn't do anything for myself."

"But Wedge, no one can do everything on their own, they need to lean on others, of course I'm the least adequate to tell you that, I also tried to do everything myself, I even went away from my master Zangan and wanted to run the bar by myself."

"How about we both agree we're just a couple of idiots in the end, so we don't argue about who's the dumber of the two," Wedge said with a mischievous smile that made Tifa laugh.

"Thanks Wedge, I needed that," said Tifa and laid her head on his friend's shoulder.

"The sunset is beautiful here, it's hard to believe that a few kilometres from here the weather is so cold," Wedge said, "the only thing I regret is that there is no field of flowers."

"The sunset and a field of flowers, I'm sure Aerith would have loved it, since she would have taken the most beautiful ones to sell them," said Tifa in a dreamy way.

"Well, I talked to Aerith and the truth is that nobody bought her flowers, no matter how cheap they were."

"Really?"

"Yes, in fact she even tried to sell flowers to Cloud the first time she saw him, but that time she thought it was not a very macho thing to do."

"I can't believe it! What the hell is wrong with men these days!"

"I guess in this cruel, gray world, the last thing people think about is flowers."

"It's a shame..."

"Well, at least you got flowers."

"No one actually gave me flowers."

"What, I don't believe it! First you tell me that nobody invited you to the Ferris wheel and now you tell me that nobody gave you flowers..."

"I told you, Wedge, I didn't even have a boyfriend," said the embarrassed woman.

"What the hell Tifa..."

Wedge got up and went to the camp to put on warm clothes, then left the place.

"Wedge, where are you going?" Tifa asked him, but his friend didn't answer, and he ran away.

.

.

At night Jesse and Biggs asked Tifa about the whereabouts of Wedge, who had not yet returned.

Tifa told them about her conversation with Wedge and the two boyfriends exchanged worried looks.

"Hey Biggs, you don't think Wedge..."

"Yes, that's just what you're thinking," said Biggs with a nod.

"I'm sorry, guys, I should have realized sooner." Tifa apologized sadly.

"Why didn't you notice it Tifa?"

"I'm sorry, but I had so much on my mind at the time..."

"Anyway, it's already too late and it would be suicide to go after that idiot," said Biggs and the women looked at him in a frown, "I'll go... I'll go look for him in the morning in the village of Icicles."

.

.

A week later and there was still no news of Wedge, even the Highwind had already arrived.

"I couldn't talk to my father nor to Delia, both of them were very busy," Lydia said with pity, "at least I was able to say goodbye to my mother in the cemetery."

"I'm so sorry, Lydia, I really am." Tifa comforted her.

"And Wedge?" Lydia asked her and Tifa explained what happened.

"Oh Wedge..." Said Lydia as she shook her head.

.

.

By the morning of the seventh day, everyone was already getting nervous when Percy and Nanaki warned the group that Wedge was approaching the site.

"Wedge what the h..." Cid was trying to yell at him, but he shut up immediately when he saw the young man approaching.

The leader of the group approached covered in wolf skins that fluttered in the wind, as did his hair that had grown in his absence. His beard had also grown, but not too much, just enough to make him look more mature and manly.

The skins did not cover him completely, the muscular arms and torso of the man were visible, as well as the multitude of scars that covered his skin, his face also bore the mark of scars, a face that framed eyes of deep, penetrating and full of authority.

"Wedge what happened to you! Where have you been?" Lydia questioned him and ran to her cousin to see if he was all right.

Wedge said nothing, just smiled gently at her and gave Lydia a kiss on the forehead, then went straight on to Tifa.

"Wedge... what happened, what took you so long?" Tifa asked him, a little flushed, as she noticed her friend was so close to her body.

"I'm sorry for being so late, I just wanted to find a field of flowers for you Tifa, but we're so far north that it took me more work than I thought at first," Wedge explained to her, who came a few inches closer to the woman.

"Tifa, I could not allow us to go to Sephiroth without you having received a flower before, please forgive me, this is the only flower I could find for you."

Wedge looked carefully among the worn skins and with immense care as if he feared that what he was taking out would break at any moment, he gave Tifa a beautiful flower with the colors of the rainbow.

A flower of seven colors muttered Tifa with her mouth open, surprised at the beauty of the flower, which seemed to shine with her own light.

Wedge and Tifa looked at each other for a couple of minutes without saying a word and at the end, Tifa frowned.

"You had us worried, Wedge, and all to bring a single flower, you are no knight in shining armor," said Tifa and Wedge looked down at her sadly.

" _You are my Prince_ ," Tifa confessed to him and it was as if the whole landscape had suddenly lit up. Tifa approached Wedge and kissed him with passion, both kissed with passion but taking care not to crush the beautiful flower that glowed with the same strength as the hearts of the two young men did at that moment.

Two cracked spheres, one from anguish and the other from resignation, regenerated immediately and these two hearts emitted a heat that spread to the remaining members of the group.

Lydia and Percy held hands and shed tears of joy for their cousin who was finally repaid in his feelings.

Aerith and Cloud, like Jesse and Biggs, looked at their friends with smiles and hugs, while sighing in relief that the drama that seemed to consume their friends and threatened to become a tragedy was finally over.

The other members of the group were also relieved with the exception of Yuffie who had a sad look on her face, but in the end shook her head and smiled as she raised her shoulders.

All the friends paused in their mission to destroy Sephiroth and congratulated the couple.

"You're not fair, Wedge," Percy complained, "now I'll have to find something more splendid for Lydia."

Wedge laughed and stroked the cat boy's head with his manly hand. At first Percy complained, but then he was very happy and began to purr.

"I'm glad those two are finally together," Lydia once said, "it's a pity that it's now, right at the end of it all."

"Don't say that, Lydia, I don't know how, but we will surely succeed in defeating Sephiroth and saving the planet from the giant meteor. We will use the Sacred Materia of Aerith to see what happens," Percy comforted her as he embraced her tenderly.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	21. The longing for a gentle smile

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 21: The longing for a gentle smile**

After Wedge had changed, he ordered the Highwind to descend through the northern crater and they reached a kind of esplanade through which they could not advance any further, so they decided that the fifteen companions would go on foot from there.

The interior of the gigantic crater had a bizarre look, like something out of another world, and the worst part was that it was full of monsters due to the mako energy of the place.

The group made their way to the depths of the crater and reached the bottom of it, however, they no longer found a natural landscape, but rather a series of artificial platforms on which they had to face massive monsters.

"This must be Sephiroth's work," said Tifa and the whole group went on.

After crossing the platforms and defeating all the adversaries, they arrived at a kind of temple where the monster Jenova was waiting for them.

"I see she has the head now, Sephiroth surely put it on her," Lydia pointed out to them as she saw the monster.

Jenova was very much like Hojo's monster, with the difference that Hojo's monstrous form was an aberration with tentacles, while Jenova had a well-defined and not so amorphous female form despite the tentacles she possessed.

The monster presented a more difficult challenge than the previous monsters, however, in the end it was also defeated by the fifteen members who went deeper into the temple.

Without warning, they felt Sephiroth's sight resting upon them and then they were lifted into the air without any control of their bodies and feeling an invisible force trying to dismember them.

"My legs and my tail, I think they'll come off at any moment." Nanaki howled in pain.

"The power of Sephiroth is on a very different level from ours."

"Mother, help us," Aerith prayed and took out the Sacred Materia, which she inherited from Ifalna. Then, the materia flew over them like a floating orb and emitting a light counteracted the power of Sephiroth.

"Is everyone all right?" Wedge asked in pain and everyone said yes.

"All the tricks are over, now the real battle is on," Cloud said.

"Come out, you coward! Biggs challenged him and Sephiroth materialized in front of the group.

However, Sephiroth had already ceased to be human and was now in the form of a massive monster, almost as big as the monsters Weapons of the planet.

"It's as big and dark as a mountain in the night." Jesse cried.

"Don't panic, we must attack him," said Vincent.

"Let's kick Sephiroth's f...!" Cid shouted and they all went to attack the final enemy.

The giant monster was very strong and made the group do their best to use magic and healing potions every time. In the end, the friends were victorious after the arduous battle.

"Thank goodness, I couldn't take it anymore," said Yuffie exhausted and the group began to celebrate the victory.

"What's that?" Cait Sith said as he felt the sound of the flapping of wings approaching them.

"It's Sephiroth!" Percy shouted, pointing at the top of the group.

Like Hojo, Sephiroth had a second transformation, but unlike the mad scientist, his was not an abomination, but rather it seemed to be in the form of an angel coming from heaven to judge and destroy men.

All the hearts of the group shrugged in terror at the appearance of Sephiroth who, like a god, was coming to destroy them all, and all hope had already left the group.

One young hand sought the protection of another and both hands shook hands intertwining their fingers. Lydia and Percy looked at each other and rose to face Sephiroth.

More hands joined hands and in the end everyone rose to continue the battle.

"Don't worry, Lydia, we'll protect you," said Tifa.

"And I will protect you," said Lydia decisively and walked away from the group to conjure up "Magic Tsunami".

Lydia concentrated to the fullest to invoke the powers of mother earth, but the chaotic powers of the crater's mako energy made the work difficult. As she was about to give up, the gentle face of her mother appeared before her, and not only her, but also the face of Percy, Wedge, Tifa, Aerith and all the other members of the group, as well as the images of each of the kind and gentle people Lydia met as she began her adventure.

The spirit of Mother Earth manifested itself before her, it had the shape of a big cat and was as big as the Earth itself. Lydia felt her body fill with magical energy and discharged it to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's power was brutal, but even so he could not resist Lydia's attack and his body disintegrated instantly.

"Lydia, Lydia did it!" Percy shouted and was in a hurry to see Lydia who looked exhausted.

Lydia fainted for a moment and when she opened her eyes she saw that the whole group was around her looking at her with concern.

"I told you I would protect you..." Lydia said tired and Percy cried and held her tightly.

Once Lydia recovered, the group decided to withdraw from the crater and began to leave the temple that was beginning to collapse.

Cloud was beginning to retreat when he felt what Sephiroth called him somehow.

"I have to go Aerith."

"You don't need to go alone," Aerith said with a gentle smile and Cloud nodded.

"Cloud, Aerith, where are you going?" Tifa asked them in a strange way.

"Sephiroth calls us, we must face him one last time," said Cloud.

"Tifa, you and the others get out of here, I'll accompany Aerith and Cloud," Wedge ordered.

"No, if you go Wedge, I'll go too!" Tifa asked him not to give an inch on this.

"Okay, I know you're too much of a woman to beat Sephiroth," Wedge said proudly and Tifa thanked her with her eyes for not underestimating her for being a woman.

The four friends took a few steps forward and suddenly found themselves in total darkness. After a couple of tense seconds Sephiroth materialized in front of them.

This time Sephiroth did not have a monstrous form, but rather his human form, he had his bare torso and held his powerful sword, the Masamune.

The four friends attacked him at the same time, but Sephiroth blocked all attacks with his sword which was still inside his sheath. Wedge and the others looked on in amazement, but they had no time to react because Sephiroth pulled his sword out of its sheath and defeated the four comrades with a single blow.

Wedge never experienced such pain in his life, he felt that the line of the sword cut was burning like fire, but at the same time it was cold as ice. He felt like a butterfly which was nailed with a needle and then exhibited, he no longer wanted to fight, he lay down and waited for the sweet death.

"Not again... this pain... my chest, it feels so empty..." Tifa moaned as she held the wound.

Wedge opened his eyes and looked at Tifa's wound, but there was no blood, but Tifa kept trying to cover the wound with his hands so that it would "stop bleeding".

Wedge looked at the cut he had and could see that he was not bleeding either, then he realized the truth and began to sweat cold, the sword of Sephiroth was terrible, not cutting the flesh, but the soul itself.

The man was about to lose consciousness from the pain and at that very moment the image of several people came before him, they were the parents of Tifa and Aerith, who asked him to save their daughters. Cloud's parents were also present and praying for his son.

"Don't make the same mistake I did, don't give up," said Cloud's father.

Wedge bit her lips until they bled and rose despite the pain.

Sephiroth's face showed no emotion but this time his lips opened.

"You shouldn't be here, this isn't even your story," he said, and Wedge felt as if his whole body, mind and soul were being cruelly beaten.

Sephiroth smiled cruelly at his head-dragging rival.

"I couldn't do anything on my own," Wedge thought, remembering his shyness in front of Tifa.

"I couldn't do anything on my own," Wedge thought of the help Lydia and Percy gave her.

"My prince", Wedge suddenly remembered Tifa's words, as well as his beautiful smile and happy face.

"Maybe this isn't my story," Wedge declared to Sephiroth as he looked the man directly in the eyes and decisively. "Maybe this universe is nothing more than someone's imagination and in the end my feelings are not reciprocated in the real world, maybe even I am dead, but here and now, I will fight you because this is not a dream, the woman I want, she wants me too."

Sephiroth said nothing, only held his blade in both hands and placed it next to his face and took the impulse to attack his opponent.

The speed of Sephiroth's attack was like lightning and Wedge could barely block it with his sword rifle. Wedge felt the muscles of his legs and arms tearing at the effort and the battle was just beginning.

New attacks came from Sephiroth, faster and stronger, but somehow Wedge managed to block them all.

Sephiroth was surprised, and now he felt the onslaught of his opponent's blows, but he also blocked them with his magnificent sword.

Swords clashed and sparked everywhere, as the roar of the clash of weapons reverberated throughout the place with a grim sound.

No opponent exchanged words, only the harsh exchange of glances that resembled that of two beasts. The sword of Sephiroth had the lethality of lightning, and Wedge's weapon still struck proudly, though it was already beginning to crack.

A noise like the sound of a big rock breaking into a thousand pieces announced the destruction of Wedge's faithful weapon. Sephiroth saw this and took a complete turn to finish off his enemy more spectacularly, but on completing the turn he found himself being pierced by the sword of Cloud.

Cloud was on the floor with his arm outstretched, at the last second he threw his blade at Sephiroth before he completed his deadly turn.

"I recognize this sword... Zack..." Sephiroth cried with a broken face.

The mako energy began to surround the opponents and Sephiroth's aura took the form of Jenova who like a huge monster was upon him.

"Mother..." Sephiroth cried, but looking over Wedge, his eyes were opened wide in surprise. Above Wedge was his aura, much larger than Sephiroth's aura, she had the shape of a beautiful young naked woman, her long hair had the shape of a dolphin's tail, she was equal to Tifa.

"Why, why are you smiling at me? Sephiroth said to the aura of Wedge. I ended up with everything you had, I ended up with everything you loved."

Wedge's aura smiled gently at Sephiroth.

"Mother... You never smiled at me like that..." Sephiroth whispered and his body merged with the lifestream.

 **CONTINUARÁ...**


	22. The planet's decision

**LYDIA DEETZ AND FINAL FANTASY 7**

 **Capítulo 22: The planet's decision**

The whole northern crater was collapsing and the four friends rushed out of the place. The Highwind, once with everyone inside, rose up quickly to get out of the crater.

An explosion shook the whole place and threw the ship out of the crater, fortunately the Highwind was not damaged.

Is everyone all right? asked Cid as he moved the ship away from the place.

I think we're altogether," Wedge replied.

That was a good flight, Cid - Cloud praised him for getting them out of the place alive.

The meteor is still approaching the planet," said Tifa and everyone saw how close it was.

Aerith approached the viewpoint of the ship's bridge and freed Sacred, the Materia she inherited from Ifalna.

Mother, help us," said Aerith and the Materia went through the glass and lost itself in the horizon.

Well, that's it, now the rest is up to Sacred," Barrett concluded.

It's true, we can't do anything anymore, our battle ends here," Biggs concluded.

The meteor was coming closer and closer, when suddenly a white glow exploded on its surface, that glow grew to look gigantic, it looked like a kind of shield that stood between the meteor and the planet.

It's Sacred, Sacred tries to protect the planet," said Vincent.

Please Sacred, please," Nanaki implored.

The giant meteor stopped and everyone on the bridge began to celebrate. Suddenly, the meteor resumed its march.

What's going on? Jesse said in a frightened voice.

We used Sacred too late," said Percy sadly and hugged Lydia.

Sacred could only slow down the meteor and hope left everyone's heart.

We still have the planet, maybe if it uses the vital current... -reasoned Lydia, who kept an ounce of hope.

But what will happen to us if the planet uses the lifestream? asked Yuffie, who by fear approached Tifa and held her hand.

Tifa was surprised, but embraced the ninja to comfort her.

That depends on the planet, as your grandfather Nanaki said, it is the planet that will decide if humans are a threat," said Tifa as she comforted Yuffie.

Guys, I am told that the planet's lifestream is coming out everywhere," Cait Sith told them.

Surely because the whole planet is cracking," said Dyne as he looked down. "Marlene... I'm sorry, I did everything I could.

No, they report to me that the lifestream is coming out of the surface without causing any damage, it seems to be running like a river and heading for the meteor," Cait Sith told them.

Look, I can see something in the distance! Jesse pointed out, and indeed, a thin, distant green row was heading toward the meteor.

At first they could only see a thin green row, but soon after more and more rows came together. Not only did the vital current come out of the depths of the earth, it also seemed to come out of every person on the planet, and not only that, it also came out of the plants, animals, trees, rocks, waterfalls, rivers, of all the objects that were on the surface of the planet.

In the end, it seems that the entire planet has been transmuted into a green sphere. The brightness was so intense that all the friends seemed to be consumed by the green light.

Tifa, forgive me for everything I did to you," said Yuffie as a farewell.

Don't worry, Yuffie, be hopeful that nothing will happen to us," said Tifa and all around them was covered by the glow of the lifestream...

 **.**

 **.**

 **MARLENE DIARY FOR THE TEACHER FOR THE HOLIDAYS [it comes with spelling mistakes, remember, Marlene is a little girl]**

 _Everything jere is very mobed dad Dyne brings me many gifts after comming of his work as sheriff of Midgar_

 _I miss daddy Barrett but he jas a lot of work to do to jelp the people in correl but when he comes back he brings me a lot of nice things._

 _Uncle Biggs and Aunt Jesse are expecting a babi._

 _Tifa is a carate teacher with Wedge and works with her._

 _Aunt aerith and aunt clou also have jovs she has a flower shop and cloud is sharing things with her biqke._

 _Lydia wrote me some letters I zaid that she's with Percy in Wutai with Yuffie and they're looking for more cat boys_

 _I was sad to learn that Nanaki didn't come because his grandfather died and I hope Nanaki didn't suffer too much._

 _cid talcs funny but looked very upzet with the votes for the new mayor of Midgar says that rrufus is a rrufian because he wants to be mayor and that some Turks help him I wonder what is a rrufian and what is a Turks_

 _The party was funn I hope to play all the time with my friends in my always beautiful and always cheerful and always of flowerz rainvows as veautiful as the house of tifa has._

 _ **FIN**_

 _The end of the FF7 game is one of the most beautiful games I've seen, but it's also mysterious. What finally happened to Midgar and the humans? Perhaps, as Bugenhagen said, the planet decided that humans were a threat and eventually became extinct after 500 years..._


End file.
